
They're back! Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
Altuve's late homer helps lift Astros over Yankees in finale
In a move that brought a collective sigh of relief among Astros fans, the World Series champs announced they are bringing back their entire broadcasting team for the 2023 season.
On the TV side, Todd Kalas will return for play-by-play on AT&T SportsNet, along with color analyst Geoff Blum and, according to the team's press release, "sideline reporter" Julia Morales. We’ll discuss that baseball doesn’t have sidelines later. Blum and Morales will be entering their 11th season with the Astros, Kalas his seventh.
“Thrilled and honored to be back for another season of Astros baseball with my good friends Blummer and Julia along with the rest of our incredible Astros fan base. Crazy to think about how much success this team has had during our previous six years together, and looking forward to calling many more special moments in the future,” said Kalas.
Robert Ford and Steve Sparks will enter their 11th season calling games for the Astros Radio Network. During their time with the Astros, Ford and Sparks have broadcast six American League Championship Series and four World Series, 86 postseason games in all.
Of course Kalas, Blum and Morales don’t get to call postseason games because the national networks pay big bucks to inflict their announcers on Astros fans. It’s a great injustice.
Spanish language announcers Francisco Romero and Alex Trevino are entering their 16th season together on Univision, one of the longest-running radio duos in the big leagues.
“We are incredibly fortunate that our broadcast teams love this city and love our fans and that comes across. They’re genuine and authentic people. They don’t just broadcast our games, they are an important part of the Astros,” said Anita Sehgal, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications for the Astros.
They’re an important part of Astros fans’ lives, too. I watch or listen to a hundred Astros games every year and I never get tired of our broadcasters. That’s the thing about the Astros. From early spring to later and later each fall, when there’s nothing else on, there’s usually an Astros game. All told, the Astros play more than half the days of the year. Add ‘em up.
"What’s fun about watching TK, Blummer and Julia is they’re almost like a little family unto themselves. Geoff is like a big kid. TK has a good sense of humor, too, but he’s just an old soul. They complement each other very well. Julia, too. They’re good friends. They care about each other. Their banter is very natural. So you’re entertained when you hang out with them,” Sehgal said.
Sehgal added that the Astros haven’t finalized a slate of guest announcers for 2023 but she anticipates that Jeff Bagwell will be making visits to the TV broadcast booth.
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Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?