Update 1:15 p.m. Thursday May 26: Barry Larkin and Jon Miller – a couple of Baseball Hall of Famers – will call the Reds-Giants game Sunday morning on NBC's Peacock streaming service.
Larkin, the former Reds shortstop inducted into Cooperstown in 2012, will be in the TV booth at 11:30 a.m. with Miller, the Giants' voice since 1997 who was presented the National Baseball Hall of Fame's Ford C. Frick Award in 2010.
They will be joined by Shawn Estes, a NBC Sports Bay Area broadcaster who pitched for the Giants (1995-2002), Reds (2002) and four other clubs.
Jason Benetti, who did the first three MLB Sunday Leadoff Peacock games, is unavailable Sunday because he's doing the White Sox-Cubs game on NBC Sports Chicago. He will resume the Sunday morning schedule next week.
The MLB Sunday Leadoff coverage starts with an 11 a.m. pregame show on Peacock with NBC Sports’ Ahmed Fareed, Estes and Rob "Pitching Nina" Friedman.
This is the Reds' only scheduled appearance on Peacock's MLB Sunday Leadoff. The full Peacock schedule is in the story below.
Original post May 2: At least fans should get home from the Reds game plenty early for a Memorial Day weekend cook-out on Sunday, May 29.
The first pitch for the Reds-Giants game at Great American Ball Park is set for 11:40 a.m. to accommodate Peacock's exclusive Sunday morning MLB Sunday Leadoff schedule of Major League Baseball games, according to NBC Sports.
This is the ninth venue to watch Reds games this season, as Major League Baseball spreads national exclusive games over ESPN, TBS, Fox Broadcasting, Fox's FS1 cable, DirecTV, Apple TV+, YouTube TV and MLB Network, in addition to games on the Bally Sports Ohio regional sports networks. Read about all the options in my April 6 story, "Play Ball! How to watch Cincinnati Reds games ring the 2022 season."
Peacock's new MLB deal has pushed back start times for all Sunday games this year. That's why Reds home games on Sunday begin at 1:40 p.m., a half-hour later than the 1:10 p.m. first pitch last year. Peacock's pregame show hosted by Ahmed Fareed will start at 11 a.m. EDT (or 8 a.m. on the West Coast).
"On each of the 18 Sundays that Peacock presents a game, it will be scheduled as the exclusive home of live MLB action until 1:30 p.m. ET that day, when the remainder of the day’s schedule will begin," the NBC Sports media announcement says.
Jason Benetti, play-by-play announcer for the Chicago White Sox on NBC Sports Chicago since 2016, will call the Peacock games. The 2005 Syracuse University graduate has been calling MLB games on ESPN and ESPN Radio since 2011. He also was NBC's lead baseball announcer for the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
Benetti will be joined in the MLB Sunday Leadoff booth each week by local broadcasting analysts from the participating teams, NBC said.
MLB Sunday Leadoff begins Sunday, May 8, with the Chicago White Sox at Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park at 11:30 a.m. The game will be simulcast on NBC broadcast to promote the new streaming deal.
The Reds will play the fourth week. Starting June 12, with the Oakland Athletics at Cleveland Guardians, the first pitch will move back to noon for Peacock games through Labor Day weekend.
Peacock will also be the exclusive home of the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game — featuring top minor league prospects — which will be played during All-Star Week in July at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, NBC Sports said.
The MLB Sunday Leadoff schedule:
May 8: Chicago White Sox at Boston Red Sox, 11:30 a.m. EDT.
May 15: San Diego Padres at Atlanta Braves, 11:30 a.m. EDT.
May 22: St. Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh Pirates, 11:30 a.m. EDT.
May 29: San Francisco Giants at Cincinnati Reds, 11:30 a.m. EDT.
June 5: Detroit Tigers at New York Yankees, 11:30 a.m. EDT.
June 12: Oakland Athletics at Cleveland Guardians, 11:30 a.m. EDT.
June 19: Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals, noon.
June 26: New York Mets at Miami Marlins, noon.
July 3: Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers, noon.
July 10: Los Angeles Angels at Baltimore Orioles, noon.
July 17: Kansas City Royals at Toronto Blue Jays, noon.
July 24: Chicago Cubs at Philadelphia Phillies, noon.
July 31: Detroit Tigers at Toronto Blue Jays, noon.
August 7: Houston Astros at Cleveland Guardians, noon.
August 14: San Diego Padres at Washington Nationals, noon.
August 21: Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Guardians, noon.
August 28: Los Angeles Dodgers at Miami Marlins, noon.
Sept. 4: Toronto Blue Jays at Pittsburgh Pirates, noon.
