Phillies-Braves updates: NBC once again forcing John Kruk into a suit; Scott Franzke's postseason pep talk

Game 1 is important in any postseason series. In a best-of-three, it’s imperative.

Since the wild-card miniseries was instituted in 2022, 11 of the 16 series ended in sweeps. Only one team has overcome a Game 1 loss to win the series, and the 2025 Yankees were playing at home against the Red Sox.

Most teams prefer to open the playoffs at home. But after a week from hell, in which they lost four games in a row amid a chorus of boos and only narrowly avoided an epic collapse, maybe it’s best for the Phillies to get away.

The Phillies' wild-card series against the Atlanta Braves won't air on NBC Sports Philadelphia, but that won't stop John Kruk from calling the game.

Kruk will part of a crowded broadcast on NBC that will feature play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian, fellow analyst C.J. Nitkowski, and Joey Votto serving as a pitching analyst. Ashley ShahAhmadi will report from Truist Park.

Tuesday's game will also feature Kruk squeezing back into a suit, a requirement for announcers calling MLB games on NBC.

In 2023, the Phillies came to Atlanta for a playoff series with their best two pitchers unavailable to start Game 1 against a record-setting offense.

So, they got creative.

It was difficult not to feel a twinge of déjà vu Monday, when Don Mattingly announced Jesús Luzardo will start — “I should say open,” he clarified — Game 1 of a best-of-three wild-card series against the Braves.

The vibes heading into the playoffs aren’t great, but longtime Phillies radio announcer Scott Franzke managed to offer something of a postseason pep talk directed at cynical fans prior to Saturday night’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

“You can pick whatever word you want for your feeling watching the Phillies baseball team these past few weeks. Maybe it’s frustrated. Maybe it’s angry. Maybe it’s exhausted,” Franzke said. “You feel that way because you’re a fan, and because you’re at your core a fan of this team. You still want them to win.”

Franzke has been through it all in his 21 season calling Phillies games, everything from a World Series win in 2008 to 99-loss season in 2015. Like fans across the Delaware Valley, he’s experienced the highs and lows of rooting for the Phillies.

This will be the first postseason to feature the automated ball‑strike (ABS) challenge system. That should benefit the Phillies, considering catcher J.T. Realmuto’s extreme success challenging balls and strikes.

As for other playoff rule changes, there will be no “ghost runners” during the postseason.

MLB’s designated runner rule puts a player on second base to begin each half-inning if a game is tied after nine innings. The rule was an attempt to preserve pitching staffs and avoid extra-long regular season games.