As college baseball continues its meteoric rise in popularity, ESPN is ramping up its coverage. The network announced Thursday that it’s adding former MLB player and University of South Carolina standout Jackie Bradley Jr. to its growing roster of analysts.
The ex-Boston Red Sox outfielder will serve as a college baseball studio and game analyst.
A glove-first outfielder perhaps best known for the sheer number of times he’s been on SportsCenter’s Top 10, Bradley is also one of the better college baseball players of the century. Bradley is a two-time Men’s College World Series champion, earning 2010 MCWS Most Outstanding Player honors during his time in Columbia.
Bradley hasn’t officially retired from professional baseball, having played in the New York Mets’ minor league system in 2024. With his upcoming debut on SEC Network’s baseball studio coverage this weekend, it’s fair to say his playing career is likely behind him, at least on the field.
According to the release announcing his hire, Bradley will be in the SEC Network’s Charlotte, NC, studio for Friday’s Texas A&M at No. 1 Texas game and Saturday’s No. 9 Vanderbilt at No. 23 Ole Miss game. He’ll join hosts Dari Nowkhah and Alyssa Lang and analysts Jared Mitchell and Tori Vidales.
Bradley’s debut as a game analyst will come on Friday, May 9. He’ll join Tom Hart and Kyle Peterson for a three-game series in Knoxville between No. 9 Vanderbilt and No. 6 Tennessee. A few days later, he’ll have a chance to be on the mic for his alma mater, returning to Columbia as a media member on Thursday, May 15, when his Gamecocks play host to LSU.
“I’m honored to join ESPN and can’t wait to get started covering the game that I love,” Bradley said in a statement. “College baseball has grown a ton since I was at South Carolina, and I hope I can contribute to the sport’s continued growth and popularity through our coverage of the student-athletes who give it their all.”
Jackie Bradley Jr. will also be part of ESPN’s postseason coverage of college baseball. He’ll be an analyst for SEC Network’s coverage of the SEC Baseball Tournament in Hoover, Ala. (May 20-25). He’ll also call games from an NCAA DI Baseball Tournament regional and contribute to ESPN’s Men’s College World Series coverage from Omaha, Nebraska.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.