It's baseball season, and ESPN is taking the field once again to bring fans across the country some of the best games every week with Sunday Night Baseball. MLB fans will get to see many of the biggest players on national TV, including Jacob DeGrom, Trea Turner, Xander Bogaerts, Aaron Judge, Max Scherzer and more.
ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, which has been a network staple for more than 30 years, is set to air 25 games throughout the season. It joins a lineup of nationally televised baseball games every week that includes MLB on TBS Tuesday Nights, Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV Plus, Fox Saturday Baseball and Sunday morning baseball on Peacock.
But we're focusing on Sunday Night Baseball, the capper to a week of action on the diamond from April to October. Here is everything that you need to know about how to watch Sunday Night Baseball.
How to watch Sunday Night Baseball
Sunday Night Baseball is an ESPN exclusive broadcast, meaning that you need to have access to the sports cable network if you want to tune in. The good news is that ESPN is widely available for TV viewers, whether you have cut the cord or have stuck with a traditional cable provider plan.
Most traditional pay-TV providers offer ESPN as part of their packages, though it never hurts just to confirm. If you're looking to make the move to a live TV streaming service but want to make sure you still can watch ESPN, four of the most popular services carry the network — FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. If you’re looking for the best deal out of those, Sling TV is the cheapest option at $40 per month.
Any of those options allow you to watch Sunday Night Baseball on your TV, but with a subscription to any of the above services you can also watch the weekly game on either ESPN.com or the ESPN app.
Sunday Night Baseball preview: Phillies vs Rangers
The first official Sunday Night Baseball game of the 2023 season (ESPN is hosting a special Opening Day broadcast), features the Philadelphia Phillies taking on the Texas Rangers.
The Phillies are coming off a run in the 2022 postseason that saw them get to the World Series, but ultimately lose to the Houston Astros in six games. With new additions in Trea Turner and Taijuan Walker, hopes are high for the club to have a repeat effort, even in a brutally tough NL East with the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets. The Phillies are also going to start off the season a bit short-handed, as former MVP Bryce Harper recovers from Tommy John surgery and first baseman Rhys Hoskins suffered a torn ACL in the final days of spring training.
The Texas Rangers have a big name acquisition of their own they hope can help them get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016 — pitcher Jacob DeGrom, who joins shortstop Corey Seager as the face of the franchise. They are supported by the likes of Marcus Semien, Adolis Garcia, Nathaniel Lowe and Nathan Eovaldi.
The pitching matchup for the April 2 Sunday Night Baseball game is going to see the Phillies' Bailey Falter take on the Rangers' Martin Perez.
Sunday Night Baseball TV schedule
Eleven of the 25 games that are going to be a part of the Sunday Night Baseball schedule have been announced. The rest of the slate is going to be revealed as the season goes along, with official announcements of games coming at least two weeks before they're to be played.
Here is the announced schedule for Sunday Night Baseball:
- April 2: Philadelphia Phillies vs Texas Rangers, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
- April 9: San Diego Padres vs Atlanta Braves, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
- April 16: Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
- April 23: New York Mets vs San Francisco Giants, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
- April 30: Philadelphia Phillies vs Houston Astros, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
- May 7: Los Angeles Dodgers vs San Diego Padres, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
- May 14: Boston Red Sox vs St. Louis Cardinals, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
- May 21: New York Mets vs Cleveland Guardians, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
- June 4: New York Yankees vs Los Angeles Dodgers, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
- June 18: New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
- August 20: Philadelphia Phillies vs Washington Nationals, 7 pm ET/4 pm PT
Sunday Night Baseball key info
What time is Sunday Night Baseball?
Every game for Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN (as of publication) is scheduled to begin at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT.
What channel is Sunday Night Baseball on?
All Sunday Night Baseball games are going to air on ESPN, but that's not the only place you can find the weekly broadcast. A handful of the games are going to have the alternative KayRod Cast air simultaneously on ESPN2, while ESPN Deportes is going to offer the Spanish-language broadcast of the games.
Who are the Sunday Night Baseball commentators?
Karl Ravech, David Cone and Eduardo Perez are teaming back up as the broadcast team for Sunday Night Baseball, joined by Buster Olney as a dugout reporter. This is Ravech’s 30th year at ESPN.
While that trio is the main broadcast team for Sunday Night Baseball, there is also the KayRod Cast team presenting an alternative version of the game, featuring interviews and special commentary (like the ManningCast for Monday Night Football). Alex Rodriguez and Michael Kay host these special broadcasts.
