Phillies announcer John Kruk to return to NBC Sports Philadelphia after surgery

The Phillies will begin a weekend homestand against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, and John Kruk will be back in the booth to call the game.

Kruk, 61, underwent gallbladder surgery May 23, and has been off the Phillies broadcast since. After a week of rest and recovery at his home in Naples, Fla., Kruk told his followers on Twitter the pain from the surgery is almost gone.

His sarcastic charm remains intact.

Kruk’s recuperation hasn’t prevented him from weighing in on the Phillies. During Tuesday’s loss to the San Francisco Giants, Kruk took to Twitter to complain about the officiating, praise third baseman Alec Bohm, and offer tips to tired fans on surviving yet another extra-innings loss.

“I did get a few naps in so that helped a little,” Kruk wrote.

Kruk has called games on NBC Sports Philadelphia since 2017, when he replaced Matt Stairs, who lasted a year as the Phillies’ hitting coach. Prior to that, Kruk was a baseball analyst for ESPN on Sunday Night Baseball.

This season, Kruk is calling a bulk of the games alongside play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy. Ruben Amaro Jr. and Ben Davis have also called games this season, and former Phillies shortstop and National League MVP Jimmy Rollins will return to the booth at some point. Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt joins the booth for Sunday home games at Citizens Bank Park.

» READ MORE: Phillies fans will need Peacock and Apple+ this season, but they’ll get less A-Rod

On Tuesday, 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal defeated top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the French Open, the 59th meeting of two of the best tennis players of all time.

Unfortunately, it was hard for U.S. viewers to watch.

Despite having the television rights for part of the French Open, the matchup between the two GOATs didn’t air on NBC. It also wasn’t available on Peacock, NBC’s subscription streaming service.

Instead, the match aired exclusively on the Tennis Channel, where an annual subscription to Tennis Channel Plus runs $109.99. The Tennis Channel is also available for a premium on FuboTV, Sling TV, and DirecTV Stream, and is also available on Comcast’s Xfinity service and on Verizon FiOS.

So why didn’t NBC air the match, given the popularity of Nadal and Djokovic? They didn’t have the rights. NBC and Peacock aired live French Open coverage on Memorial Day weekend, but coverage moved to the Tennis Channel for Tuesday and Wednesday. NBC and Peacock will return to airing matches Thursday through the finals over the weekend.

Here’s the remaining French Open TV schedule (all times are Eastern). Nadal will face German tennis star Alexander Zverev on Friday beginning at 8:45 a.m.: