George Kontos is joining the Giants broadcast team

George Kontos. Jeremy Affeldt. Javier Lopez.

Those three names have more in common than just being former MLB relievers who made up key parts of the San Francisco Giants bullpen during both the 2012 and 2014 World Series runs (and, in Affeldt and Lopez’s case, 2010 as well).

They also all tried their hand at broadcasting Giants games once their playing careers ended.

Affeldt had a short stint calling games before the Giants moved on from him (which he was rather vocal in disagreeing with). Lopez is seemingly still going, though the coronavirus is altering broadcast plans, and I’d assume we don’t see much of him until 2021.

And now Kontos is joining the team.

Kontos is following in his former teammates’ footsteps, albeit walking in a slightly different path. Rather than call games, “Everyday George” will be part of the pregame and postgame shows on NBC Sports Bay Area, while Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow handle in-game duties (with Amy Gutierrez providing “sideline” reporting from the studio).

Kontos spent eight years playing professionally, including parts of six years with the Giants. San Francisco acquired him in exchange for Chris Stewart prior to the 2012 season, where he was a mainstay in the bullpen until getting released halfway through the 2017 season.

During his Giants tenure he appeared in exactly 300 games, struck out 252 batters in 309.2 innings, had an ERA of 3.05, an FIP of 3.70, and was worth 3.5 rWAR.

He always seemed well liked and well spoken, and was very comfortable in front of the camera, so it seems safe to assume that he’ll do well in a broadcasting role.