2010 NL MVP Joey Votto Makes NBC Sports Debut alongside Bob Costas on Sunday Night Baseball Pregame Show; Votto will also Provide “Inside the Pitch” Commentary
World Series Champion Yankees Manager Joe Girardi and Three-Time All-Star 1B John Kruk Join Jason Benetti to Call Yankees-Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball at 7 p.m. ET
Two-Time All-Star 3B Junior Caminero and AL East-Leading Tampa Bay Rays Face 2026 All-Star Rookie 2B Travis Bazzana and Second-Place Cleveland Guardians on MLB Sunday Leadoff at Noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN
Matt Vasgersian to Call MLB Sunday Leadoff Alongside World Series Champion Brian Anderson and Former Cleveland CF Rick Manning; Ashley ShahAhmadi Serves as Sideline Reporter
Sunday Stretch Whip-Around Show to Immediately Follow MLB Sunday Leadoff; Peacock “Game of the Day” Features One Out-of-Market Game Streamed Nationally
STAMFORD, Conn. – July 21, 2026 – All-Stars Kyle Schwarber, Ben Rice, Junior Caminero, Cade Smith, and Travis Bazzana headline NBC Sports’ national MLB slate this Sunday, July 26, featuring a primetime matchup between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. Coverage begins with the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays facing the Cleveland Guardians, which are a game out of first in the AL Central, on MLB Sunday Leadoff at Noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN.
SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL: YANKEES-PHILLIES (7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock)
MLB home run leader Kyle Schwarber and the Philadelphia Phillies host 2026 All-Star first baseman Ben Rice and the New York Yankees in an interleague matchup at Citizens Bank Park this Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. Former Yankees and Phillies manager and four-time World Series champion Joe Girardi makes his Sunday Night Baseball debut alongside three-time All-Star John Kruk and play-by-play voice Jason Benetti.
2010 NL MVP Joey Votto will make his NBC Sports debut alongside Bob Costas on the pregame show this Sunday and will also provide “Inside the Pitch” commentary from the batter’s perspective during the game.
Both clubs are within three games of their division lead. The Yankees own the American League’s second-best record at 56-44 and are 1.5 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East. New York leads the AL with a 3.42 ERA, 146 home runs, and 97 stolen bases. Rice paces the Yankees and ranks second in the league with 29 home runs, a .966 OPS, a .594 slugging percentage, and 68 RBI. The second-place Phillies, three games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, lead MLB pitching staffs with 986 strikeouts, and rank fourth with 43 quality starts and sixth with 29 saves. Schwarber powers Philadelphia’s lineup, pacing the majors with 33 home runs while also leading the Phillies in slugging percentage (.556), OPS (.923), and RBI (61).
A four-time World Series champion, Girardi enjoyed a 15-year playing career (1989–2003) with the Cubs, Rockies, Yankees, and Cardinals before managing the Marlins, Yankees, and Phillies after retiring as a player. Across 1,277 career games, he totaled 1,100 hits, 186 doubles, 422 RBI, and 454 runs scored. Girardi was named an NL All-Star in 2000 while playing for the Cubs. During 14 seasons as manager, Girardi compiled 1,120 wins and was named NL Manager of the Year in 2006, his lone season as the Marlins’ skipper. Girardi led the Yankees to a 103-59 record in 2009 and the franchise’s MLB-record 27th World Series title, defeating the Phillies in six games. Following his 10-year tenure with the Yankees, he managed the Phillies from the 2020 season until June of 2022. He has served as an analyst for Yankees telecasts on YES Network since 2024, following nearly two seasons as an analyst for Cubs telecasts on Marquee Sports Network.
Kruk began his 10-season MLB career (1986-95) with the San Diego Padres before being traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he was selected to the NL All-Star team in 1991, 1992, and 1993. Kruk set career highs in home runs (21) and RBI (92) in 1991. In 1993, he batted .316 with 14 home runs and 85 RBI, helping lead the Phillies to the World Series, where he hit .348. The first baseman finished his career with a .300 batting average. Since 2017, Kruk has served as an analyst for Phillies telecasts on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Prior to joining the Phillies’ broadcast booth, he was a studio analyst on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight (2004-11) and a game analyst on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball (2013-16). This Sunday marks Kruk’s third Sunday Night Baseball broadcast this season (Braves-Phillies on April 19 and Mets-Phillies on June 21).
Votto, a six-time All-Star and 2011 Gold Glove recipient, spent all 17 seasons of his career with the Cincinnati Reds. The former first baseman was named NL MVP in 2010 after leading the league with a .424 on-base percentage, .600 slugging percentage, and 1.024 OPS while batting .324 with 177 hits, 37 home runs, and 113 RBI. Known for his power and patience, the left-handed hitter compiled a .294 career batting average and hit 356 career home runs while leading the NL in on-base percentage seven times. He helped the Reds reach the postseason four times during his career.
MLB SUNDAY LEADOFF: GUARDIANS-RAYS (Noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN)
Two-time All-Star third baseman Junior Caminero and the Tampa Bay Rays face 2026 All-Star rookie second baseman Travis Bazzana and the Cleveland Guardians at Tropicana Field this Sunday at Noon ET on Peacock and NBCSN. Play-by-play voice Matt Vasgersian will call Guardians-Rays alongside World Series champion Brian Anderson, former Cleveland center fielder Rick Manning, and reporter Ashley ShahAhmadi.
The Rays hold a 1.5-game lead in the AL East and pace the American League in wins (57), batting average (.258), hits (852), and saves (37). Tampa Bay’s Yandy Díaz is second in the league with a .311 batting average and 114 hits, while Jonathan Aranda ranks sixth with 65 RBI. Caminero is second in the AL with 29 home runs, fourth with a .933 OPS and fifth with 63 runs scored. The Guardians are one game behind the Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central at 53-48. As a team, Cleveland pitchers are first in the AL in strikeouts (918) and second in saves (32). Guardians’ closer Cade Smith has posted an MLB-best 28 saves, alongside a 2.78 ERA and 65 strikeouts.
Anderson began his 13-year career (1993-2005) pitching for the Angels before playing for Cleveland, the Diamondbacks, and the Royals.He has three postseason appearances and won the 2001 World Series with Arizona. After his playing career, Anderson joined the Rays coaching staff, serving as an assistant to pitching coach Jim Hickey, and worked in the team’s front office during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. He began broadcasting for the Rays in 2008, before becoming the team’s full-time TV analyst in 2011 on Rays.TV. In 2021, Anderson received a Suncoast Sports Emmy Award.
A 1976 AL Gold Glove winner in center field, Manning began his career with Cleveland (1975-83) before being traded to the Brewers (1983-87). He finished his 13-year career with 1,349 hits, 189 doubles, 458 RBI, 664 runs scored, and a .985 fielding percentage. On May 15, 1981, he caught the final out of Len Barker’s perfect game — the 2nd and most recent perfect game in Cleveland franchise history and the 10th in MLB history. Manning is currently in his 37th season as a color commentator for Guardians telecasts on CLEGuardians.TV.
ShahAhmadi will serve as a reporter on MLB Sunday Leadoff on Sunday, after serving as a courtside reporter for NBC Sports’ NBA coverage this past season. Previously, she covered the NBA on TNT and college football with ESPN.
Major League Baseball and NBC Sports announced the debut of Road to the Show, a new five-episode documentary series providing unprecedented access to six of baseball’s brightest young stars as they navigate the path to professional baseball’s biggest stage. New episodes will debut on July 26 and August 2. The first three episodes are available now on Peacock.
Produced by MLB Network and narrated by baseball content creator and YouTuber Dan Sarmiento (DSARM), Road to the Show features some of the game’s most exciting young talent, including Braden Montgomery (Chicago White Sox), Gage Wood (Philadelphia Phillies/Reading Fightin’ Phils-AA), Jesús Made (Milwaukee Brewers/Biloxi Shuckers-AA), the No. 1 overall prospect, and Ethan Holliday (Colorado Rockies/Fresno Grizzlies Single-A), alongside 2026 1st round picks Roch Cholowsky (White Sox) and Justin Lebron (Reds).
SUNDAY STRETCH WHIP-AROUND SHOW
NBC Sports’ Sunday Stretch whip-around show will stream live on Peacock immediately following Guardians-Rays on MLB Sunday Leadoff. Produced in collaboration with the Emmy Award-winning MLB Network, the show will feature look-ins at all the compelling live action around Major League Baseball in real time and on replay every Sunday, so viewers don’t miss a single run or key play.
Peacock offers a dedicated MLB Hub, a one-stop destination for fans to access live games, team hubs, and highlights. This season, baseball fans can enjoy popular Peacock features, such as Catch up with Key Plays, if they are tuning in late; Live in Browse, which displays the live game on the Peacock home page for instant context about the matchup and allows viewers to immediately join the live game presentation; and MLB Live Picks, a mobile mini-game for fans to predict the winners.
The Sunday Stretch whip-around show will stream live on Peacock this Sunday, July 26, following MLB Sunday Leadoff, providing viewers with the most compelling action in real time and on replay so they won’t miss a single run or key play. In partnership with Telemundo and Universo, Peacock will provide extensive Spanish-language coverage.
Peacock “Game of the Day” (July 21 – July 29)
One out-of-market game will be streamed nationally* on Peacock nearly every day of the season. Tonight, 2025 Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz and the Athletics visit three-time All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field with first pitch set for 9:40 p.m. ET on Peacock.
| Date | Time (ET) | Game |
| Tues., July 21 | 9:40 p.m. | Athletics at Arizona Diamondbacks |
| Wed., July 22 | 2:10 p.m. | New York Mets at Milwaukee Brewers |
| Thurs., July 23 | 3:07 p.m. | Tampa Bay Rays at Toronto Blue Jays |
| Fri., July 24 | 7:05 p.m. | Atlanta Braves at Baltimore Orioles |
| Sun., July 26 | 2:35 p.m. | Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers |
| Mon., July 27 | 9:38 p.m. | Houston Astros at Los Angeles Angels |
| Tues., July 28 | 10:10 p.m. | Seattle Mariners at Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Wed., July 29 | 7:45 p.m. | Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals |
(*Note: The Peacock “Game of the Day” will not be available in the competing team markets, where it will be presented by the local rightsholder)
National Baseball Hall of Famer CC Sabathia and Ahmed Fareed star in NBC Sports’ new weekly digital video series, MLB According to CC. On each episode, Sabathia and Fareed will discuss big picture storylines and spotlight the week’s most exciting and intriguing events around baseball. Among the unique segments featured in the series: “CC’s Clubhouse” will highlight anecdotes from his playing days, while “Show Me Something” will preview MLB’s weekend slate of games and highlight key players across the league. The show’s “newstalgia” storytelling will bridge legends of baseball’s past with today’s rising stars.
New episodes are available to stream every Wednesday on the Peacock MLB Hub, NBC Sports YouTube Channel, NBCSports.com, and all major podcast platforms.
NBC SPORTS’ MLB TRADITION
NBC Sports has a distinguished history with Major League Baseball. The first-ever MLB television broadcast was a 1939 Cincinnati Reds-Brooklyn Dodgers doubleheader on W2XBS (the precursor to WNBC-TV) in New York. NBC Sports was a home to the first World Series broadcast in 1947, the first All-Star Game nationally broadcast in 1952, and has televised 39 World Series – more than any other network.
From 1957-2000, NBC Sports was home to a wealth of baseball programming, including Game of the Week and Monday Night Baseball telecasts, more than 30 All-Star Games, and countless iconic Postseason moments. For the 2022-23 seasons, Peacock was the exclusive home of MLB Sunday Leadoff, a first-of-its-kind Sunday morning presentation featuring a unique three-announcer broadcast booth with one analyst with expertise on each team joining the play-by-play voice.
--NBC SPORTS--
