During every Sunday Night Baseball broadcast on ESPN, a different MLB star is being mic’d up for the game, and this week the Los Angeles Dodgers will be one of the two featured teams as they take on the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
The broadcasts previously featured Bryce Harper, Francisco Lindor, Ozzie Albies, Joey Votto and Kiké Hernandez getting the honor during their respective Sunday Night Baseball games.
The Dodgers had Dino Ebel mic’d up during their exhibition Freeway Series matchup against the L.A. Angels. Now, Justin Turner is next in line as he’ll be partaking in the in-game interviews, according to Alden González of ESPN:
Justin Turner is going to be mic’d up for Sunday Night Baseball from Wrigley Field. Turner is following Francisco Lindor, who followed Bryce Harper, who followed Ozzie Albies, who followed Kiké Hernandez, who followed Joey Votto.
Very cool to see the players buy in like this.
— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) May 2, 2022
The highlights of in-game player interviews are posted to ESPN, so fans who missed them can still check out the best moments.
In 2020, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pushed back against the idea of his players doing interviews mid-game and seemed to shut them down moving forward, but that may have been geared specifically toward them in the playoffs.
“I got wind of it about an hour before the game. Personally, I’m not a fan of it. I don’t know the arrangement and I learned late,” he said at the time. “I don’t know.
“Baseball is kind of evolving, but I don’t know. I don’t know. That’s a decision Justin made, but I don’t see that happening with our guys going forward. Going forward I don’t want our guys to do that.”
Roberts putting an end to his players conducting in-game interviews was not an indictment on Turner. “I do think if there’s any player that can balance it and still be present, it is certainly Justin,” Roberts added.
Mookie Betts calls on Dodgers lineup to improve
The Dodgers have started their season 14-7, which is good for one of the top records in baseball and has them tied for first place in the National League West. However, they have also been plagued by inconsistencies.
L.A. has dropped the second contest of every three-game series they’ve played and their offense has relied on big innings to carry them rather than getting consistent production. This has led to having the top run differential in baseball (+47), but it still feels like they have yet to reach their full potential.
While some of their struggles could be due to the shortened Spring Training, Mookie Betts does not want to use that as an excuse because it’s something every team had to deal with and called on the team to perform better.
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