Buck is coming back, longtime broadcaster set to rejoin the Blue Jays broadcast

Longtime Toronto Blue Jays broadcaster Buck Martinez is set to rejoin the on-air crew next weekend when Toronto takes on the Dodgers in LA. His Sportsnet colleagues were happy to share the news on social media on Friday.

Both Hazel Mae and Dan Shulman posted on X (formerly Twitter) about the great news, as they look forward to welcoming the former Major League catcher into their midst.

Martinez has been absent from the tv side broadcasts since May, due to health concerns. The 76-year-old is said to be getting stronger day-by-day and is exciting to be joining the Blue Jays for their stretch run for a potential AL East division title.

He was originally scheduled to come back at the end of June, but suffered a medical "setback." In a statement on Sportsnet, Martinez said, "Hey Blue Jays fans, I was planning to be back in the booth tonight after some scheduled time off, but I recently had a little health setback. While I’m feeling pretty good, I’m going to take some extra time off out of an abundance of caution. I hope to see you at the ballpark soon. As always, thanks for your love and support!”

Martinez has been involved with the Blue Jays organization in some capacity since 1981. He was Toronto's catcher for six seasons from '81-86 where he appeared in 454 games, accumulating a 3.5 bWAR and making arguably one of the gutsiest defensive plays in Blue Jays history when he broke his leg in a collision at the plate but still managed to finish off a double play.

Martinez then began his career as a broadcaster in 1987, covering the Blue Jays on TSN. He did that throughout the 1990's and at the turn of the century, he moved into a managerial role with the Blue Jays as the bench boss from 2001-2002. He returned to the broadcast booth in 2003 working for various teams, before coming back to Blue Jays in 2010.