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PORT ST. LUCIE — Max Kranick was anything but pleased with the direction his career was headed when he was designated for assignment by the Mets and went unclaimed early last season.

Outrighted back to Triple-A Syracuse, he was determined to follow his own path.

“I showed up at Syracuse pissed off at the world,” Kranick said Saturday before the Mets beat the Marlins 7-3. “I was of the mindset I was going to figure things out on my own and that did not go well.”

In spring training with the Mets for a second straight season, the 27-year-old has emerged as a contender for a bullpen job.

His fastball has been crisp this spring, popping in the 97-98 mph range, and the results have followed.

On Friday he worked 1 ²/₃ scoreless frames against the Nationals, showing team brass his ability to enter during an inning. In seven innings over four appearances this spring, he’s recorded eight strikeouts without surrendering an earned run.

After struggling upon his return to Syracuse last year, Kranick (who pulled a hamstring in spring training that led to him beginning the season on the IL) finally agreed to let the organization’s assistant pitching coordinator, Grayson Crawford, design a plan for him.

Kranick, after initial displeasure that he had been moved from starter to reliever, began to thrive.

“[Crawford] was like, ‘I am going to give you a couple of drills to do, we are going to look up in 4-6 weeks, and if things aren’t headed in the right direction, then of course we can change and pivot off of that, but let’s trust our plan,’ ” Kranick said. “And it seemed every month I gained another mph. I was 98 [mph] at the end of the year.”

For his work, Kranick was rewarded with a spot on the wild-card roster against the Brewers to give the team a fresh arm after others had been exhausted in the final regular-season games.

Kranick did not pitch in the series, but felt as though he had been noticed.

The Mets now have at least one bullpen vacancy to start the season, and Kranick is part of the discussion from a group that also includes names such as Huascar Brazobán, Tyler Zuber and Danny Young.

“Max started this process in the middle of the year last year,” pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said. “When he got taken off the roster it kind of opened his eyes a little bit and he’s taken an opportunity to get back to who he was, to his roots, and credit to Grayson Crawford last year to get his velocity back up.”

Kranick’s multiple-inning potential — José Butto has succeeded in such a role — is also intriguing to Hefner.

“He’s got some starter in his history and we don’t want to lose that because I think there is some value there,” Hefner said. “He can get lefties and righties out, so having the ability to do that is extremely valuable to him and us.”

Kranick, a Scranton, Pa. native, began his career with the Pirates before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for 1 ½ seasons.

“I think I just got hurt at the wrong time,” Kranick said of his Pirates tenure, which lasted all of 11 appearances in 2021-22. “The opportunity was going to be there in 2022, and then I blew out my elbow and missed the second half and with the horses they had coming up, I got pushed out. I just didn’t really hit that window.”