Dodgers add Stephen Nelson to SportsNet LA broadcast team

The Dodgers on Friday hired Stephen Nelson to join their television broadcast team for 2023, calling games on SportsNet LA.

Nelson will call over 50 home and road games on television in 2023, and the Dodgers also announced Joe Davis, Orel Hershiser, Nomar Garciaparra, Eric Karros, Jessica Mendoza, Tim Neverett, and Dontrelle Willis will also return to call games on SportsNet LA.

Neverett by rough count called at least 24 Dodgers games on SportsNet LA in 2022, nearly all when Davis was away calling national games for Fox as the network’s lead announcer. Whether Neverett, who also calls Dodgers games on radio for AM 570, lessens his television workload remains to be seen, but with Nelson calling more than 50 games, it’s clear that Davis will work fewer games.

“For anybody freaking out, Joe’s not going anywhere,” Nelson said in an introductory video shared by the Dodgers. “I’m just going to be filling in for him from time to time.”

Nelson called games for Apple TV+ and YouTube last season, in addition to his work on MLB Network, where he is the co-host of ‘Intentional Talk.’ He’s also called hockey for NHL Network and NBC Sports.

A Japanese American who grew up in Southern California, Nelson graduated from Chapman University in Orange. With the Dodgers he will be the only Asian American play-by-play announcer working for an MLB team.

“It’s impossible to convey the emotions that come with this opportunity,” Nelson said in a statement. “Growing up in Southern California, like so many Angelenos, I enjoyed a front-row seat to broadcast greatness with Vin, Jaime, Chick, Bob Miller and others. That tradition has continued with Joe Davis. To work with and learn from somebody that has become a friend in recent years is special. This is an honor and blessing that I’ll work tirelessly to earn.”