Three-Time All-Star 1B John Kruk and Four-Time All-Star Reliever John Franco Join Jason Benetti to Call Mets-Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball at 7 p.m. ET
Bob Costas Hosts Sunday Night Baseball Pregame with 2016 World Series Champion and Four-Time Gold Glove First Baseman Anthony Rizzo, who will also Provide “Inside the Pitch” Commentary from Batter’s Perspective
Two-Time All-Star OF Byron Buxton and Minnesota Twins Meet Three-Time All-Star 2B Ketel Marte and Arizona Diamondbacks on MLB Sunday Leadoff at 3 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN
Matt Vasgersian to Call MLB Sunday Leadoff Alongside Former Twins Infielder Trevor Plouffe and Five-Time All-Star Outfielder Luis Gonzalez; Caroline Pineda 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 Each Day
STAMFORD, Conn. – June 16, 2026 – MLB All-Stars Bryce Harper, Juan Soto, Ketel Marte, and Byron Buxton highlight NBC Sports’ star-studded national MLB coverage this Sunday, June 21, featuring Minnesota Twins-Arizona Diamondbacks on MLB Sunday Leadoff (3 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN), followed by a marquee NL East matchup between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball (7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock).
SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL: METS-PHILLIES (7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock)
First baseman Bryce Harper, a two-time National League MVP, and the Philadelphia Phillies close out their series against four-time All-Star outfielder Juan Soto and the division-rival New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park this Sunday at 7 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. Three-time All-Star first baseman John Kruk and four-time All-Star reliever John Franco join Jason Benetti on the call of Mets-Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball.
Bob Costas will host the pregame show alongside Anthony Rizzo, who will also provide “Inside the Pitch” commentary from the batter’s perspective during the game.
The second-place Phillies rank second in MLB in strikeouts (673), third in saves (23), and 10th in home runs (90). Kyle Schwarber, Brandon Marsh, and Harper power Philadelphia’s lineup, as Schwarber is tied for first in the majors with 24 home runs and paces the Phillies in slugging percentage (.563), OPS (.926), and RBI (42). Marsh ranks fourth in the majors with a .324 batting average and is tied for 10th in the National League with 78 hits, while Harper leads the team with 46 runs scored. The Mets’ pitching staff ranks fourth in the NL with 650 strikeouts and fifth with a 3.96 ERA. Soto is among the top 15 in the National League in slugging percentage (.555), OPS (.944), home runs (15), batting average (.290), and on-base percentage (.389).
Franco, a four-time All-Star, spent 21 seasons in the majors with the Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and Houston Astros. One of the most accomplished left-handed relievers in MLB history, Franco recorded 424 saves (seventh all-time), a 2.89 ERA, 975 strikeouts, and 90 wins in 1,119 career appearances. He remains the Mets’ all-time saves leader, compiling 276 saves during his 14-year tenure with the club. Franco also led the National League in saves in 1988 (39) and was named the NL’s Rolaids Relief Pitcher of the Year in 1988 and 1990.
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).
A three-time MLB All-Star and four-time Gold-Glove winning first baseman, Rizzo caught the final out of the 2016 World Series for the Chicago Cubs, breaking the team’s 108-year championship drought. In 2016, Rizzo set a career high in RBI (109), was awarded a Gold Glove, earned a Silver Slugger, and won the Platinum Glove as the NL’s best overall defensive player. Over 14 seasons with the Padres, Cubs, and Yankees, the lefty slugger hit 303 home runs and had four seasons with at least 100 RBI. Rizzo will serve as an analyst for NBC Sports’ MLB coverage throughout the regular season and its exclusive MLB Postseason coverage of all Wild Card games on NBC, Peacock, and NBCSN.
MLB SUNDAY LEADOFF: TWINS-DIAMONDBACKS (3 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN)
Three-time All-Star second baseman Ketel Marte and the Arizona Diamondbacks host two-time All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton and the Minnesota Twins at Chase Field on Peacock and NBCSN this Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. Matt Vasgersian will be joined on the MLB Sunday Leadoff call of Twins-Diamondbacks by five-time All-Star outfielder Luis Gonzalez, former Twins infielder Trevor Plouffe, and reporter Caroline Pineda.
The Diamondbacks and the Twins are in third place in the NL West and AL Central, respectively. Outfielder Corbin Carroll leads MLB with eight triples and paces Arizona in hits (71), home runs (12), batting average (.277), and on-base percentage (.368), while Marte tops the team with 41 RBI. Arizona’s closer Paul Sewald is tied for second in the NL with 18 saves. As a team, Minnesota is third in the American League with 324 RBI, led by designated hitter Josh Bell, whose 43 RBI lead the team. Buxton is third in MLB with 23 home runs and a .606 slugging percentage, and eighth with a .941 OPS.
Gonzalez, a five-time All-Star, began his 19-year MLB career with the Astros before making stops with the Cubs, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Marlins. The outfielder finished his career with 2,591 hits, 354 home runs, 1,439 RBI, and a .283 batting average. During the Diamondbacks 2001 World Series run, he finished the season as a Silver Slugger after batting .325 with 198 hits, and a career-high 57 home runs and 142 RBI. Gonzalez was the hero in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, hitting the walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera to secure the championship for the Diamondbacks. Gonzalez made his NBC Sports debut during the network’s primetime 2026 Opening Day broadcast of Dodgers-Diamondbacks.
Plouffe made his MLB debut with the Twins in 2010 and spent seven seasons with the club before playing with the Athletics, Rays, and Phillies. Over nine major league seasons, the infielder batted .242 with 710 hits, 155 doubles, 106 home runs, 379 RBI, and 364 runs scored. He also ranks among the all-time Target Field leaders in several categories, including home runs (55), games played (382), hits (359), and RBI (191) in the Twins’ home ballpark. Plouffe is now in his fourth season as an analyst for the Twins television broadcast team on Twins.TV.
Pineda will serve as a reporter on this week’s edition of MLB Sunday Leadoff. Pineda has been a reporter with NBC Sports since 2022, covering college football, basketball, the Olympics, and MLB.
SUNDAY STRETCH WHIP-AROUND SHOW
NBC Sports’ Sunday Stretch whip-around show will stream live on Peacock immediately following Twins-Diamondbacks 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 will feature a dedicated MLB Hub, a one-stop destination for fans to access live games, team hubs, and highlights. This season, baseball fans will also be able to 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, June 21, 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” (June 16 – June 24)
One out-of-market game will be streamed nationally* on Peacock nearly every day of the season. Tonight, three-time AL MVP outfielder Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels square off against two-time All-Star outfielder Corbin Carroll and the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field with first pitch set for 9:40 p.m. ET on Peacock.
| Date | Time (ET) | Game |
| Tues., June 16 | 9:40 p.m. | Los Angeles Angels at Arizona Diamondbacks |
| Wed., June 17 | 7:15 p.m. | San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Braves |
| Thurs., June 18 | 7:40 p.m. | St. Louis Cardinals at Kansas City Royals |
| Fri., June 19 | 2:20 p.m. | Toronto Blue Jays at Chicago Cubs |
| Fri., June 19 | 7:05 p.m. | Cincinnati Reds at New York Yankees |
| Sat., June 20 | 1:10 p.m. | Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers |
| Sun., June 21 | 1:35 p.m. | Cincinnati Reds at New York Yankees |
| Mon., June 22 | 7:10 p.m. | Chicago Cubs at New York Mets |
| Tues., June 23 | 9:38 p.m. | Baltimore Orioles at Los Angeles Angels |
| Wed., June 24 | 7:40 p.m. | Los Angeles Dodgers at Minnesota Twins |
(*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--
