The Kansas City Royals will feature former Omaha announcer Jake Eisenberg on the radio broadcast team for the 2023 season. He will primarily be heard on the Royals Radio Network with Denny Matthews and Steve Stewart and will also call play-by-play on Bally Sports Kansas City for select games when Ryan Lefebvre is on radio.
Eisenberg is taking on the role previously held by Steve Physioc, who is retiring after a broadcasting career that spanned more than 40 years.
“We are excited to welcome Jake to our broadcast team and help share the Royals’ story,” Royals Senior Vice President/COO Brooks Sherman said. “Our great fans will appreciate his passion for the game and knowledge of our players. We’re thankful for Phiz’s invaluable work with us the past 11 seasons and congratulate him on a terrific career spanning six decades.”
Eisenberg, 27, previously was the play-by-play broadcaster with Kansas City’s Triple-A affiliate, the Omaha Storm Chasers, from 2020-22. During the 2022 season, he also called two Royals games, including Bobby Witt Jr.’s first career home run and MJ Melendez’s Major League debut. Additionally, he worked approximately 40 games for the Mets on WCBS 880 in New York.
The 2022 season marked his fifth season broadcasting Minor League Baseball (not including the 2020 season), including stops at Double-A Richmond (Giants) in 2019, High-A Winston-Salem (White Sox) in 2018 and Short-Season Brooklyn (Mets) in 2017. He was also part of the radio broadcast team for the Eastern League All-Star Game in 2019.
“It’s an honor to be part of the broadcast team that shares the stories of this new, exciting era of Royals baseball while also getting to sit next to and learn from a Hall of Famer in Denny Matthews,” Eisenberg said. “Being in Omaha the last couple of seasons was a great education on how special this organization is and how bright this team’s future is. I am thrilled and grateful for this opportunity, and eager to get started serving Royals fans in Kansas City and beyond.”
In addition to his work on the air in Minor League Baseball, Eisenberg has done play-by-play for the Big East Digital Network and Creighton Athletics and has called various events on ESPN+ and ACC Network Extra. He also worked as a college football and basketball studio host at Learfield IMG College in Winston-Salem, N.C.
A Port Washington, N.Y. native, Eisenberg began his broadcasting career at the University of Maryland, where he called a variety of Maryland events for the Big Ten Network+ and WMUC Sports – the student radio station – until he graduated in May 2017. In 2015, he helped create the Maryland Baseball Network, a multi-platform home for Maryland Baseball that features radio broadcasts of each game. His broadcast experience also includes one season as a broadcaster for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League in 2016.
Physioc, 67, whose Major League broadcasting career began in 1983 with the Cincinnati Reds, has called Royals games on radio and television for the last 11 seasons. He previously worked for 14 seasons for the Los Angeles Angels from 1996-2009 on both television and radio. A graduate of Kansas State University, Physioc was the voice of the Wildcats football and basketball from 1979-83. During his broadcasting career, which spanned six decades, he also called games for the Cincinnati Bengals, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, Fresno State and Stanford University.
“We thank Phiz for his contributions the last 11 seasons and congratulate him on a tremendous career on the national and regional level, and we’re excited to welcome Jake to the Royals broadcast team,” said Bally Sports Kansas City General Manager and Senior Vice President Jack Donovan.
