Royals broadcast team is set for the 2018 season

The Royals won’t be the only ones celebrating their 50th year in 2018. Denny Matthews will be back to call his 50th season of Royals baseball as well.

Matthews, the Ford C. Frick Award winner who was honored during the 2007 Hall of Fame Induction, signed a four-year contract in January 2015 that expires at the end of the upcoming season.

Steve Stewart will also return for his 11th season with the Royals Radio Network. Engineer Don Free, who retired after last season, will be replaced at home games by Keith Kowalski, who has been with the Royals since 2013.

Fox Sports said that the television broadcasters will all return for the 2018 season: Ryan Lefebvre, Rex Hudler, Steve Physioc, Jeff Montgomery and Joel Goldberg.

This will be Lefebvre’s 20th season with the Royals, and he has handled most of the play-by-play duties for Royals games on Fox Sports Kansas City. Hudler and Physioc will be in their seventh seasons calling Royals games.

Hudler is an analyst for FSKC broadcasts, while Physioc works in both the radio and television booths.

Goldberg, who is the host of the pregame and postgame shows and a frequent innocent bystander/victim of catcher Salvador Perez’s postgame splashes, will be back for his 11th season. Montgomery, the co-host of the pregame and postgame shows and a contributor to the Royals broadcasts, will be in his ninth season.

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This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 2:15 PM with the headline "Royals broadcast team is set for the 2018 season."