2025 Mets Pitching Preview: Max Kranick

Max Kranick had a phenomenal spring training, earning him a spot in the bullpen on the Opening Day roster.  

Kranick threw 12 1/3 innings across eight games during the spring, striking out 15 batters and posting a WHIP of only .811 with a 1.46 ERA. Although the sample size was small, Kranick’s numbers were rather impressive.

Kranick, who grew up a Mets fan, was drafted in the 11th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016. Five years later in 2021, he made his MLB debut in a start for the Pirates against the St. Louis Cardinals. He finished that season going 2-3 with a 6.28 ERA.

Unfortunately, the injury bug caught Kranick in 2022, requiring him to undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, which sidelined him until late in the 2023 campaign. The punches did not stop there though, as he was eventually designated for assignment by Pittsburgh in January 2024.  

Fortuitously, the Mets claimed him off waivers and sent him down to the minors. He started off in Single-A St. Lucie and worked his way up to Triple-A Syracuse. Kranick originally struggled at the latter of those levels, which is when assistant pitching coordinator Grayson Crawford decided to move him from a starting role to the bullpen. That helped increase Kranick’s velocity on his fastball, as well as improve just about every other major pitching statistic.  

His pitch arsenal consists of a four-seam fastball, slider and curveball. He throws his fastball the majority of time at 53%, followed by his slider at 37% and then his curve at 11%. His fastball’s average velocity is 95.1 mph. This spring, he was able to keep hitters off-balance by displaying a nice fastball-slider combination.  

While there are some bullpen roles locked up by names such as Edwin Díaz, A.J. Minter and Ryne Stanek, there’s also a prime opportunity for Kranick to make his mark if he can continue building on his strong spring. 

Kranick has a real shot of staying on the 40-man roster and playing a pivotal part for the Mets this year. He displayed some nasty pitching in spring training and is also making a name for himself as a reliable pitcher, building Mets manager Carlos Mendoza’s confidence in him. Plus, who doesn’t like a childhood Mets fan pitching for the big league club! It will certainly be interesting to see how Kranick’s season will pan out!

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