Braves’ broadcast team gets massive shake-up

The Atlanta Braves will have many new faces calling games on Bally Sports South this season.

Now is the time to familiarize with who will bringing Atlanta Braves baseball coverage to you over on Bally Sports South this season.

While much was made about longtime play-by-play guy Chip Caray leaving for a similar role with the St. Louis Cardinals over on their Bally Sports affiliate, the offseason changes the Braves made from a broadcasting perspective extend far behind giving the mic to one of their own in Brandon Gaudin. On Monday, Bally Sports South tweeted out a graphic of the Braves’ broadcasting team.

Here is who will we lean on to give us the best Braves coverage from a TV perspective this season.

• Brandon Gaudin: Play-by-play
• Jeff Francoeur: Game analyst
• Tom Glavine: Game analyst
• Peter Moylan: Game and Braves Live analyst
• Treavor Scales: Braves Live host
• Kelly Crull: Reporter/Braves Live host
• Lauren Jbara: Reporter/Braves Live host
• Nick Green: Game and Braves Live analyst/reporter
• Kris Medlen: Braves Live analyst
• Gordon Beckham: Braves Live analyst
• Ashley ShahAhmadi: Braves Live host

https://twitter.com/BallySportsSO/status/1637814755825000450

Gaudin replacing Caray is the biggest offseason change the Braves made with Bally Sports. Seeing hall-of-famer Tom Glavine back in the booth to call a few games is a huge plus after stepping away last season. Former Braves starting pitcher Kris Medlen will be joining the cast of characters that make Braves Live so great. Of course, we will need to talk about Paul Byrd and Brian Jordan…

Let’s discuss what all this means for the Atlanta franchise, Bally Sports South and Braves Country.

Atlanta Braves make sweeping changes within their local broadcasting affiliate

Admittedly, so much attention will be put on Gaudin replacing Caray. While Caray is the son of legendary Braves broadcaster Skip Caray, it always felt like he would have rather been calling Chicago Cubs games like his iconic grandfather Harry Caray did in between Budweisers. Chip Caray was the consummate professional, but the Braves booth needed juice he could no longer provide.

Although Caray brought many great memories to life for Braves Country, including their most recent run of prominence, I will always look back on his epic calls of warning-track fly balls fondly. Gaudin grew up a Braves fan, following along to Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, Don Sutton and Joe Simpson on the nostalgic TBS Superstation days. It is great to have one of us in the booth for us.

While Francoeur is one of the better color analysts in baseball, Glavine’s return will be met with mixed reviews. Although he is not as crotchety as his former hall-of-fame teammate John Smoltz can be on a national level, Glavine is not comfortable being a total goofball like Francoeur can be. That is why we love Frenchy so much. Regardless, it is good to have Glav back in the booth for us.

As basketball season winds down for Treavor Scales, Lauren Jbara, Ashley ShahAhmadi and Kelly Crull to some extent, a lot of pressure will be put on Peter Moylan and Nick Green’s plates to offset the losses of Byrd and Jordan. Byrdie had carved out a great role covering the Braves in recent years. Hopefully, his stepping away is only temporary. We would love to have him back in 2024.

As for Jordan, the Two-Sport Man received mixed reviews from Braves Country. Their former outfielder and Atlanta Falcons defensive back was better received as a Braves Live analyst than he was at times in the booth next to Caray. Then again, most people were not able to create the necessary energy within themselves Caray could never pull out of them. We do wish B.J. the best.

And when it comes to Medlen and Gordon Beckham, they should do just fine bringing Braves Live to life. Medlen is a newcomer to broadcasting, but he had a great personality when he pitched for the Braves. Let’s hope the cool SoCal kid demeanor is a lifelong trait of his. Beckham was a high school star at Westminster and at Georgia before briefly playing for the Braves later in his career.

Overall, Braves Live should go off without a hitch. There is already enough chemistry within the mainstays from the last few years to allow the newer team members to thrive. However, the big key in Bally Sports South broadcasts are how quickly Gaudin and Francoeur develop chemistry. Again, Francoeur is a rock star in his role. More importantly, we know how huge this is for Gaudin.

While it will still be your typical Bally Sports baseball broadcast, the Braves did need to shake it up.