WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Max Kranick grew up in Jessup, Pa., just outside Scranton, with season tickets to Mets games.
He inherited a love of the team from his father, and the family would make the trip across I-80 to Shea Stadium on Sunday afternoons.
Kranick believes he was once one of those kids who rounded the bases after a game.
He remembers the Endy Chavez catch.
If all goes right, his family would have more incentive to begin the long drives again.
Kranick, a 26-year-old righty, began his case for an eventual rotation spot by throwing two perfect innings Monday against the Nationals at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches.
Kranick struck out two and allowed just one decently hit ball, which became a ground out to second base.
“I thought he was really good,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after the 6-3 win. “The way he attacked the zone, the way he uses his pitches.”
Kranick debuted in 2021 with the Pirates and threw five scoreless innings in the majors in 2022 before requiring Tommy John surgery in June.
He made it back to the minors last season, when he threw 20 ²/₃ innings in August and September, then was designated for assignment over the offseason.
The Mets scooped him up and plan to stretch Kranick out as starter depth.
With Kodai Senga set to start the season on the injured list, there is at least one rotation spot available that might be claimed by Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi or José Butto.
Kranick — who is playing with an evolving arsenal — is a dark horse in the competition.
Upon arriving to camp, Kranick began working with vice president of pitching Eric Jagers, Triple-A pitching coach Grayson Crawford and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner about adding to an arsenal that already included a four-seamer, curveball and cutter.
He wanted a pitch that bore in on right-handed hitters, unable to master a flat changeup for years.
The group came up with a two-seam fastball plus a sweeper that Kranick is toying with. Kranick debuted the two-seamer Monday and was happy to see some swing-and-miss on the pitch.
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“I think it’s going to open up a lot of doors for me,” Kranick said. “I think the last thing is having conviction with it. So today, gripping it and being like, ‘OK, I’m going to drive this through the catcher and it’s going to do what it’s going to do and I trust it.’ So I think that was a big step for me today to get a couple reps with it.”
Before surgery, Kranick was able to reach back and throw in the upper-90s.
Last season, he acknowledged, the velocity had not fully returned, sitting in the lower 90s.
He believed his offspeed stuff was crisper on the other side of the knife, though, and hopes that as he builds up, the gas will be there, too.
The velocity and a completed arsenal are items for later days, though. Right now, Kranick feels good after a strong first step.
He is happy in a camp that briefly included his favorite player growing up.
Kranick debated introducing himself to guest instructor David Wright and walked by him twice, but he couldn’t force himself to meet his hero.
“I was very shy,” Kranick said.