The Braves shook things up in the broadcast booth in a big way heading into last season. Longtime play-by-play announcer Chip Caray took the job in St.Louis and was replaced by Brandon Gaudin, who was joined primarily by Jeff Francoeur. The results, according to most fans, were overwhelmingly positive. Unfortunately, there will be changes again this season.
Jeff Francouer is taking on a smaller role as he aims to spend more time with his family. He’ll still appear in the booth from time to time, but he won’t be the primary broadcaster alongside Brandon Gaudin. That role now belongs to another former Braves player, C.J. Nitkowski.
Nitkowski is a former left-handed pitcher that played in the majors from 1995-2005, including the 2004 season with The Atlanta Braves.
Since retiring, he’s been involved in all sorts of media, most recently serving in the Texas Rangers broadcast booth since 2017. From those familiar with Nitkowski, they don’t expect there to be much of a drop-off in terms of the quality of the Braves broadcasts next season and beyond.
Losing Frenchy will be a tough pill to swallow for a lot of Braves fans. He was a fan favorite as a player when he came up with the Braves and became even more beloved as a member of the broadcast team. He’ll still be around, though, and it looks like the Braves got another good one in the building in C.J. Nitkowski.
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