Joey Votto learned the hard way what every broadcaster dreads: say it out loud, and baseball will usually punish you for it.
In the fourth inning of NBC and Peacock’s Game 3 broadcast of the National League wild-card series between the Braves and Phillies, Votto looked at a 3-0 Atlanta lead and made a bold call. As play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian listened in, Votto said, “As good as Zack Wheeler looks, I do not see the Braves scoring any more runs the rest of the way.”
That prediction didn’t survive the inning.
Wheeler later issued a walk and then gave up a two-run homer to Ozzie Albies, and the Braves were back on the board before the frame was over. In one of baseball’s oldest broadcast traps, Votto had stepped right into the jinx.
The stakes around the game made the moment even sharper. The winner advances to the National League Division Series, while Votto’s role as an in-game analyst ends with this series no matter what happens next. NBC and Peacock don’t have rights beyond the wild-card round, so his work in this spot was always going to be short-lived.
Votto, a 17-year MLB veteran and former National League MVP, is in his first season as a broadcaster after retiring as a player in 2024. He may still work for MLB Network as a studio analyst during the World Series, but this broadcast run was built to stop after the wild-card round.
For one inning, though, the lesson was clear: never announce the shutout before the next pitch. Braves fans will probably laugh it off. Phillies fans, not so much.
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The Phillies are countering with Aaron Nola starting and Zack Wheeler expected to come out of the bullpen, a combination that underscores how much urgency both clubs are carrying into this one. Philadelphias familiar top of the order, with Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, adds to the pressure on Atlanta, which now has to see whether this reshuffled plan can change the tone of the series. [Read more 🡒]