Al Leiter and Neil Walker will be Mets Opening Day analysts on NBC
Former New York Mets pitcher Al Leiter during his Hall of Fame induction ceremony at Citi Field on June 3, 2023. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Former Mets pitcher Al Leiter and former Pirates and Mets infielder Neil Walker will be in the NBC booth as analysts for the teams’ Opening Day game from Citi Field on March 26, a source told Newsday on Wednesday.
NBC had previously announced that Matt Vasgersian will be the play-by-play announcer for the 1:15 p.m. game, which will be shown on NBC and on their Peacock streaming platform.
The network is planning to use local talent as its analysts in its first season televising baseball since 2000.
SNY’s first telecast with its popular “GKR” booth featuring Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling will come in the Mets’ second game next Saturday, March 28.
Leiter, a regular on MLB Network and a former game analyst with YES Network, pitched for the Mets from 1998-2004. Walker spent the bulk of his career with the Pirates before playing with the Mets in 2016 and 2017. Since 2021, he has been an analyst on Pirates broadcasts.
Former Mets reliever Adam Ottavino will be on the pregame show with host Ahmed Fareed.
NBC, which this season has taken over “Sunday Night Baseball” from ESPN and has two Opening Day games, plans to use Jason Benetti as its lead play-by-play announcer. He will call the Dodgers-Diamondbacks game in prime time next Thursday.
Anthony Rieber covers sports media and business and professional sports (you know, games and trades and things). He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since Jan. 1, 2026.
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