Favorite reportedly emerges to be paired with Scott Franzke in games Larry Andersen is off

Larry Andersen turned back the clock and worked all 17 games that the Philadelphia Phillies played in the postseason last year, but the 69-year-old will return to a scaled back role during the 2023 regular season.

Andersen is slated to broadcast “approximately 60 games” as the radio color commentator this upcoming season, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic. While that’s far less than the 162 games that LA did for many seasons, Gelb reminds us that 60 is more regular season games than Anderson did a season ago, when he only called weekend games at Citizens Bank Park.

After Kevin Frandsen departed the radio booth to join the Washington Nationals TV broadcasts last season, the Phillies had Franzke working with a rotating quartet of former players in games that Andersen wasn’t working. Erik Kratz, Kevin Stocker, Michael Bourn and Chad Durbin all got what seemingly were extended tryouts to be the color commentator alongside Franzke when Andersen was off. And now Gelb hears that it is Stocker who is the favorite to return alongside the recently extended Franzke for the majority of games in 2023, although nothing is official.

Stocker — who is celebrating his 53rd birthday Monday — was a second-round pick by the Phillies in the 1991 MLB Draft out of the University of Washington. He hit .324 in 70 games as a rookie for the 1993 Phillies, who won the National League pennant. The Phillies traded Kevin Stocker to the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays in November of 1997, ultimately landing future Wall of Famer Bobby Abreu in return.

Frandsen, Stocker and Kevin Jordan were the initial road game color commentator tryouts with Franzke during the 2018 season, when Andersen decided to only broadcast home games. Stocker and Jordan only lasted the 2018 season, with the Phillies tabbing Frandsen initially. However, Stocker continued to hone his craft working as a game analyst for the Pac-12 Network, and it now appears he’ll stick around longer in his second shot as a radio broadcaster for the Phillies.

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