Ex-Alabama star Alex Avila has a new gig with MLB Network — and has already hit a home run | Goodbread

“You’re on in 3 … 2 … 1... “

Alex Avila’s TV career began just that suddenly, when the former University of Alabama baseball catcher went straight from his final game as a big-leaguer last year to the MLB Network studios in Secaucus, N.J., for what amounted to a tryout. He joined network analyst veterans Harold Reynolds and Mark DeRosa for two days of studio coverage of the 2021 postseason, and when the camera lights came on, he hit a home run in his first TV at bat.

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Roughly five months later, MLB Network announced it was adding Avila and another retiring player, Cameron Maybin, to its studio team. On an intermittent basis, he’s now contributing across all eight of the network’s programs, including centerpieces MLB Central and MLB Tonight.

Pretty smooth landing for a career change.

But Avila has always been a quick adjuster.

He’d never been a catcher before his last year at Alabama in 2008, and took to it immediately. Adjusting from an aluminum bat to the wood bat of the pro ranks – a real struggle for many – took him no time at all. The year after he left Alabama as a junior, he made his MLB debut with the Detroit Tigers, where his father, Al, is the general manager.

In a meteoric rise through the minor leagues, he skipped the Triple-A level altogether, and went onto a 13-year MLB career, mostly with the Tigers. He considers future Hall of Famers Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer as the top three players with whom he played.

Now, his adjustment is in front of a camera, not behind a plate.

“Working with the host, it’s kind of like a dance and you’ve got to have some rhythm to it, and you’ve got to bring some energy,” Avila told me last week. “Talking baseball is the easy part. But how to deliver, the timing, all the TV part of it, getting others involved, and there’s a producer talking in your ear, and you’re getting a point across all at the same time. It’s a lot to get used to.”

Catching itself, however, provides a unique perspective on the game that only Avila can impart for MLB Network as the only former catcher on its analyst team. The nature of the position all but demands a field general, which is why so many former catchers are groomed to become managers. Bruce Bochy, Bob Brenly, Mike Scioscia, Joe Torre, Joe Girardi and A.J. Hinch are just a few of the former big-league backstops who went on to win a World Series as a manager.

“A lot of people pegged me as a future manager one day. I wouldn’t rule that out in the future as something I’d like to pursue,” Avila said. “But the same attributes that allow you to be pretty successful as a manager can apply to this too.”

For now, Avila still has plenty to learn in his new role. But if he ever does get an opportunity to show what he could do as a manager, you can bet he won’t take long to figure it out.

Reach Chase Goodbread at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Alex Avila has a new gig with MLB Network — and already hit a home run