Pittsburgh Pirates to call up Kranick

Jun. 26—Max Kranick was getting ready to head home after a game Wednesday night when his Indianapolis Indians pitching coach Joel Hanrahan said he needed to talk to him.

"My first initial thought was, 'Damn, what did I do wrong?' I'm kind of rattled a little bit," Kranick said.

Hanrahan asked what the plan was for the next day, when the Pittsburgh Pirates prospect and former Valley View ace was supposed to make his fifth start at Triple-A. Again, he was confused because he thought the two just spent the whole game talking about what the gameplan would be. So, he started saying things, not even sure that what he said made sense since he felt so thrown off. Hanrahan motioned for him to sit down with manager Brian Esposito, who Kranick said looked angry.

Hanrahan and Esposito had some life-changing news to share, but first they were going to have some fun at Kranick's expense, and they were going to use baseball's current sticky situation to do so.

"He said they found a bunch of pine tar on the ball (from his last start), so he's like, 'You're going to have to miss a start,'" Kranick said. "And in my head again I'm like, 'No way.' I'm like, 'There's no possible way.' I did not use anything. I don't use anything. Like, there's no way."

Esposito didn't let up.

"He's like, 'You're going to throw a bullpen (Thursday),' and he's like, 'And then you're going to meet the big league team on Sunday.'

"And my mouth just dropped."

No, he wasn't being punished. He was being promoted.

The 23-year-old will make his major league debut today when he starts for the Pirates in the final game of their series against the Cardinals in St. Louis, reaching the pinnacle of the sport nearly five years after he was drafted out of high school.

First pitch is set for 2:15 p.m. EDT and airs locally on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh.

"I definitely feel like I'm ready for it," said Kranick, who had a goal of reaching the big leagues this season. "But I was definitely surprised that it was in June. I thought that, probably September, maybe August. But I didn't think til after the (trading) deadline or whatever. But yeah, I was so, so caught off guard."

Pittsburgh (28-47) is playing 20 games in 20 days with no days off heading into the all-star break, so calling up Kranick for one start will allow the Pirates to give the rest of the rotation an extra day of rest before continuing on to Colorado for a three-game series. St. Louis (37-40) is just one spot ahead of the last-place Pirates in the standings, but still Kranick will be tasked with maneuvering through a lineup loaded with former all-stars and potential Hall of Famers.

"Yadier Molina might be the best catcher ever," Kranick said. "That's crazy. I'm going to walk in the box, and he's going to be right there. (Nolan) Arenado, (Paul) Goldschmidt, all those guys — they're going to go down as all-time great players. So to play them in my debut is pretty cool."

Pittsburgh added Kranick to the 40-man roster in November after he was invited to their alternate site in 2020. He started this season at Double-A Altoona, but was bumped up to Triple-A Indianapolis after just three starts. In four starts with the Indians, he was 1-2 with a 4.66 ERA, including a scoreless five-inning, one-hit gem against Nashville on June 12. Overall, he has 36 strikeouts against just nine walks in 35 innings this year.

Kranick was the 2016 Times-Tribune All-Region Player of the Year when he went 5-0 with a 0.31 ERA as a senior for Valley View. He had a career 16-3 record in high school with a 1.17 ERA and a 0.969 WHIP in 138 1/3 innings, racking up 201 strikeouts against just 37 walks.

The Pirates selected Kranick in the 11th round of the 2016 MLB Draft and signed him away from his commitment to the University of Virginia. He has a career 3.47 ERA across 58 minor league games (54 starts).

Kranick's first call after learning of his promotion went to his parents, who were with the rest of his family on vacation in New Jersey. They had a TV all set up to watch him pitch against Louisville the next day, but Kranick told them he wouldn't be making that start.

"'Because I'm going to be pitching in St. Louis on Sunday,'" Max's dad John recalled him saying. "'OK, I guess we're not going to be watching (on TV).' ... It still, quite honestly, it still hasn't kind of sunken in yet, know what I mean? It will when we get to the ballpark."

The family returned home Friday, then was headed to Philadelphia on Saturday to fly to St. Louis for the game.

It's likely Kranick will be up for just the one start, but he'll still be a call away if Pittsburgh needs him again.

"I'm just excited to go out there, get my feet wet and start getting used to it," Kranick said. "And hopefully this isn't just the only time."

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