MLB Network set to produce more content than ever for the 2026 MLB season
March 24, 2026 – Entering its 18th season as the home of baseball, MLB Network is set to produce more content than ever in 2026. Led by a variety of studio programs and live games every week, MLB Network’s Opening Night and Opening Day coverage presented by Adobe begins this Wednesday, March 25 at 9 a.m. ET, with The Leadoff Spot, MLB Central, MLB Now, Intentional Talk and MLB Tonight: National Pregame Show. Opening Day this Thursday, March 26 will feature Tarik Skubal and the Detroit Tigers against Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres at 4 p.m. ET, plus live look-ins of Opening Day games across MLB Tonight and the season debut of Quick Pitch. Available direct-to-consumer, MLB Network is set to deliver the following studio programs on a daily basis:
- 9 a.m. ET, The Leadoff Spot – Returning for a second season, MLB Network will continue to simulcast the final hour of SiriusXM’s daily show, The Leadoff Spot. Co-hosted by a combination of veteran baseball analysts – Steve Phillips, Xavier Scruggs and Eduardo Pérez – the program delivers expert commentary, plus interviews with baseball newsmakers and club personnel.
- 10 a.m. ET, MLB Central – A morning staple since 2015, Mark DeRosa, Robert Flores and Lauren Shehadi provide the wake-up call for baseball fans with an informative and humorous look at the game, covering the previous night’s action and the slate of games ahead. DeRo’s Deep Dives from the Skybox inside MLB Network’s Studio 21 and daily news reports from Jon Morosi remain an annual fixture on the program. Former big leaguers turned MLB Network analysts, including Chris Young, Al Leiter and Sean Casey, will contribute throughout the season.
- 12 p.m. ET, MLB Now – Coined “The Show for The Thinking Fan” since 2013, host Brian Kenny examines the latest analytics and trends in the game. Signature segments Digging In, Baseball-y Plays of the Day and Managerial Check will be featured, as panelists Bob Costas, Joel Sherman, Jon Heyman, Ron Darling, Dan O’Dowd and others provide thoughtful discussion on how the play on the field and data-driven decisions continues to evolve in baseball.
- 4 p.m. ET, Intentional Talk – Serving as MLB Network’s longest-running talk show, co-hosts Ryan Dempster, Kevin Millar and Siera Santos provide entertaining analysis alongside revealing player interviews that are driven by their signature sense of humor. Millar and Dempster cover the news of the day from all angles, plus the best interview in baseball reveals everything you didn’t know about your favorite players.
- 5 p.m. ET, MLB Tonight: National Pregame Show presented by Adobe – Following its revamp in 2025, the acclaimed trio of Greg Amsinger, Harold Reynolds and Dan Plesac will co-host America’s pregame show with creative outside-the-box segments that have become MLB Tonight’s signature, plus interviews with star players, detailed on-field demonstrations, analysis of all 30 clubs and live look-ins of games. The program will heavily utilize Ballpark Cams to take fans inside the ballpark for exclusive access to batting practice and pregame warmups. On any given night, fans can watch the league’s brightest stars get ready for the game, only made possible by the cameras’ unique vantage points.
The Emmy Award-winning MLB Tonight presented by Adobe will regularly air as hosts Lauren Gardner, Matt Vasgersian and Adnan Virk join analysts Yonder Alonso, Cliff Floyd, Eric Hosmer, Kevin Kiermaier, Jake Peavy and more for live look-ins around the game. Off-the-cuff reactions to the latest game action, expert insights and postgame interviews from nightly stars are all part of the show.
A daily MLB Network staple since 2009, Quick Pitch is back with host Abby Labar, as she brings fans up to speed on everything that happened that day in baseball. Scores, jaw-dropping highlights, mesmerizing statistics, important news and the best calls from announcers across the country.
Big Inning, MLB Network’s action-packed show hosted by Matt Yallof and Gregg Caserta, will increase its on-air presence in 2026, featuring extensive live looks-ins of games in progress and breaking highlights of all the biggest moments from the games’ biggest stars as they are happening all season long. Big Inning will take viewers on a tour of the league, bringing fans into local broadcasts for the biggest moments, with a focus on getting fans closer to the action as it happens.
For the 18th consecutive season, MLB Network will produce its own MLB Network Showcase telecast package. The first matchup presented by Turbo Tax will feature the New York Mets against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, April 2 at 9:30 p.m. ET, with Matt Vasgersian and Tom Verducci on the call. MLB Network’s live out-of-market game schedule through April can be viewed here.
The MLB Network Podcast will return for a second season. Leading into afternoon baseball, the 30-minute show will air Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. ET beginning this Saturday, March 28. Following its on-air Saturday debut, the entire show will be released digitally on podcast platforms for fans everywhere. The MLB Network Podcast will feature entertaining and insightful conversations with people from all over the baseball world, including Hall of Famers, current players, former All-Stars and celebrity fans.
Play Ball presented by Nike will return to MLB Network this season with new host Kait Maniscalco, beginning Saturday, April 4 at 10 a.m. ET. As MLB Network’s weekly program designed to educate young fans about the great game of baseball, Kansas City Royals All-Star Bobby Witt Jr. will return to the show as PLAY BALL Ambassador. Throughout the year, the Royals shortstop will be featured on various segments like “Backyard Bobby,” where he joins Kait to give techniques on the field, and “Bobby Versus Ballgame,” a weekly competition where Witt Jr. and Coach Ballgame will compete to guess batting stances and stadiums. Action-packed segments including “Question of the Week,” “A Brief History of Baseball” and “The Walk Off and the Mindfulness Minute” will be featured across each program.