Boston Radio: Merloni, Middlebrooks Join NESN Red Sox Team

Lou Merloni, the former Red Sox utility infielder and longtime host at sports radio WEEI, is joining NESN’s cast of color analysts. So is Will Middlebrooks, the former Sox third baseman who debuted with NESN as a studio analyst last season.

The Boston Globe reports Merloni and Middlebrooks will join holdovers Kevin Youkilis and Kevin Millar in the rotation. Tim Wakefield, who has been a studio analyst since 2012, the season after the knuckleballer’s retirement, will also contribute for an unspecified number of games as a third voice, providing a pitcher’s perspective.

Youkilis, in his second season in the Red Sox booth, will be the primary color analyst, with a workload expected to be around 70 games. Millar was part of approximately 20 broadcasts last season and is expected to have a similar amount in 2023. There is a possibility that NESN adds another analyst or two to the mix.

Dave O’Brien is back for his eighth season as NESN’s primary play-by-play voice and his 17th calling Red Sox games in total. Mike Monaco will also call play-by-play from time to time, and Jahmai Webster is back for his fifth season as the in-game reporter.

Merloni was let go as a host from WEEI at the end of December when his contract was not renewed, but he did reach a deal to be part of the station’s Red Sox radio broadcasts for 50-60 games this season. With the additional NESN assignment, he will call 90-95 games this season.

“The best way to describe it is [being at Fenway in the broadcast booth] is my happy place,” said Merloni, who worked with O’Brien in the past on WEEI’s Red Sox broadcasts, including the 2013 World Series. “I just love doing the games. So to have the opportunity to focus on baseball and work at NESN, I’m really excited about it and it’s something I’ve wanted to do for some time.

NESN had the openings because Dennis Eckersley retired in October after 20 distinctive years as a color analyst. He worked 75 games last season, and his departure left a huge void for NESN — not to mention for Red Sox fans who appreciated Eck’s irreverent, insightful style — as it prepared for 2023.

NESN also made the decision not to bring back Tony Massarotti, leaving another swath of games in need of a color analyst.

Middlebrooks is a logical choice to move into the booth. He’s just 34, has an easygoing, self-deprecating style, and is well-informed as a national MLB analyst for CBS Sports, a role he has had since 2019 and will continue to hold. He got a four-game call-up to the booth during a series with the Orioles late last season, and it went well.