A.J. Pierzynski Joins Fox Sports as Analyst
By Jeremy Karll
Fox Sports hired former catcher A.J. Pierzynski as a full-time analyst on Tuesday.
Fox Sports added another former MLB player in A.J. Pierzynski on Tuesday. The former catcher of 19 years retired after last season and will now be in the booth as an analyst and a guest on some of FS1’s MLB shows.
He joins other former players in Alex Rodriguez, Pete Rose, and former teammates Nick Swisher and Frank Thomas on Fox Sports. Fox has recently thrived by adding retired players to their postgame shows. They have been a fun bunch to watch and should be even more entertaining with fun personalities in Swisher and Pierzynski joining the team this year.
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This move to the broadcast booth seemed inevitable for Pierzynski considering his past work with the company. He helped with Fox baseball postseason coverage in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015 as an analyst. Now, he will serve as a color guy alongside Kenny Albert and reporter Ken Rosenthal, while making regular appearances on FS1’s MLB Whiparound, according to the Chicago Tribune.
In his 19-year career, Pierzynski spent time with the Minnesota Twins, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, and most recently the Atlanta Braves for the past two seasons.
He was always known for being very vocal in the locker room and not afraid to voice his opinion. His opponents usually didn’t like him, such as when he and Michael Barrett got into a fight at home plate when Pierzynski was with the White Sox, but teammates always seemed to embrace his personality.
His best years came in Chicago, where he played from 2005-2012. He made one of his two career All-Star appearances in that span and won the 2005 World Series with the White Sox. He also caught Philip Humber‘s perfect game and Mark Buehrle‘s no-hitter.
During his eight seasons with the White Sox, Pierzynski hit .279/.318/.424, 118 home runs and drove in 460 runs.
Over his entire career, he hit .280/.319/.420 with 188 home runs and 909 RBIs. He hit .300/.339/.430 over 113 games in 2015, but his role decreased to just 81 games with Atlanta in 2016 because of a recurring hamstring injury that ended his season. His stats also took a significant drop.
He tried to find a spot on an MLB team this winter, but no teams signed him. That made retiring at 40-years-old a reasonable choice.
Next: Jose Canseco Will Be Oakland A's TV Analyst
Pierzynski’s first game as a color analyst will be on April 5 when the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays meet.