Dodgers-Padres series finale Sunday gets dual ESPN treatment

The first series between the loaded Dodgers and Padres gave us three exciting games last weekend in Petco Park in San Diego. All were televised locally, but that didn’t stop the baseball world lauding the series. This weekend the teams meet again at Dodger Stadium, with the paucity of national telecasts ending with double exposure on Sunday.

The series finale (4 p.m. PT Sunday) will be the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecast, with Matt Vasgersian, Alex Rodriguez, and Buster Olney on the call. This we already knew. But ESPN2 will also give us another broadcast, the first Statcast telecast of the season, with Jason Benetti, Eduardo Perez, and Mike Petriello on that call.

The Statcast broadcast has been refreshing the last few years. Though described by ESPN as “content is driven by data and information from Statcast, including custom video and graphics as well as expert analysis and commentary,” the telecast isn’t really information overload. Benetti is a wonderful play-by-play announcer, and has excellent rapport with Perez and Petriello. They present the stats in an engaging and informative way, rather than beat the audience over the head with numbers.

National broadcasts are difficult by nature, in that it’s impossible to intimately know all 30 teams. But it’s clear the Statcast broadcast crew puts in the effort, and will be more familiar with the Dodgers and Padres than the cliche-driven thoughts from Vasgersian and Rodriguez on the main broadcast.

I’ll be at the game on Sunday, but if I was home I know which broadcast I’d be watching.

Sunday Night Baseball info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Padres
• Location: Dodger Stadium
• Game time: 4:08 p.m. PT
• Main broadcast: ESPN (Matt Vasgersian, Alex Rodriguez, Buster Olney)
• Statcast broadcast: ESPN2 (Jason Benetti, Eduardo Perez, Mike Petriello)
• Streaming: Watch ESPN