The Atlanta Braves' broadcast team has undergone a lot of changes in recent years. Ben Ingram took the reins on the radio side to replace the great Don Sutton and Chip Caray moved to the Cardinals broadcast crew and was replaced by Brandon Gaudin in what has been a collosal upgrade to the Braves' broadcast.
In all honesty, it has been a long time since the Braves' local broadcasts have been this good. There are guys in the booth that actually enjoy the game of baseball and the periodic "legends" broadcast teams have been a ton of fun as well. Well, Bally seems to think that continuing to add top talent is the way to go as they just hired CJ Nitkowski as an analyst to allow Jeff Francoeur to spend more time with his family.
Welcome C.J. Nitkowski 🎙️@CJNitkowski has been hired as an analyst for our @Braves telecasts on Bally Sports South and Bally Sports Southeast beginning in 2024!
— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) December 18, 2023
Bally Sports hires CJ Nitkowski as a Braves analyst, Francoeur to scale back broadcast role
With Chip out of the broadcast booth, Frenchy has really shined while working with Gaudin. The two have a great rapport and it will be a shame to see Francouer less during games. However, as a dad with four kids, it is hard to blame the guy to want to be around more as they grow up.
When Jeff Francoeur told us he was planning to significantly reduce his workload this year, it felt odd. But it made perfect sense on the season’s final day, when his four kids burst in the booth and gave him a big hug. He’s looking forward to adding to dad duties. https://t.co/8uYAdBr7Tf
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) December 18, 2023
As for Nitkowski, he has put in a lot of time in the booth as an analyst for the Texas Rangers' broadcasts. While the Rangers' booth hasn't exactly gotten a lot of love when it comes to ranking all of the broadcast crews around baseball, CJ at least has a lot of experience in the role and understand how to provide insights without disrupting the flow of games too much. His work with the Rangers has led to multiple Emmy nominations and wins which certainly doesn't hurt.
Whether or not Nitkowski goes full "old man yelling at clouds" or struggles early on given a lack of familiarity with the Braves remains to be seen. Fortunately, the broadcast should be in good hands with Gaudin in the booth. Anything is better than Chip.