NBC Sports Philadelphia reportedly will bring back sideline reporter for Phillies home games

According to Kevin Kinkead of Crossing Broad, NBC Sports Philadelphia reportedly intends to bring back the sideline/dugout reporter role for Phillies and Sixers home games.

Kinkead hears that Taryn Hatcher will likely be the person that serves as the sideline/dugout reporter for both the Phillies and the Sixers. Presumably, this won’t take effect for the Phillies until the 2023 season.

Fan favorite Gregg Murphy formerly was the field reporter for NBC Sports Philadelphia, filling the position from 2012-2020. Murphy was laid off following the 2020 season, as NBCUniversal made the decision to eliminate sideline reporter roles. Evidently, the parent company is now prepared to fund something of a compromise; with the role returning only for home games.

Murphy — who now has a full-time position on the Phillies Radio Network — was part of the television broadcasts for all 162 games, occasionally filling in for Tom McCarthy as the play-by-play announcer. Murphy’s role seemed to be the most valuable for road games, when he gave fans a glimpse into different features at ballparks across the country.

Still, there are plenty of things to show off at Citizens Bank Park, and the return of a field reporter for home games will give the network someone to conduct the on-field postgame interview. Over the last two years, McCarthy and whoever is with him in the booth have done the postgame interviews through a headset, ones that are often damaged when teammates dump water or sports drinks on the player being interviewed after a big win.

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