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A little-noticed streak came to a halt Wednesday, when Max Kranick inherited two more runners and finally allowed one to score.
The Mets reliever had begun his season by stranding all six runners whom another pitcher left on base.
But here is what it took for Kranick to slightly bend: He entered a two-on, none-out jam in the fifth inning. He struck out Dane Myers on three pitches, induced a harmless flyout from Griffin Conine, and watched Nick Fortes send a bloop — 70 mph off the bat — into left field that landed in front of Brandon Nimmo for an accidental RBI single.
“Got to be a little bit better,” said Kranick, as hard on himself as he is on opponents.
During a two-inning, one-hit, no-run outing in the 5-0 loss to the Marlins at Citi Field, another streak continued: Kranick is now up to 14 consecutive major league innings (stretching back to his time with the Pirates in 2022) without being charged with a run.
The righty has pitched the equivalent of a full game this season, and in nine innings he has faced 29 batters and retired 27 of them, allowing just two singles and walking zero.
The numbers he is posting are rarely seen outside of video games, and the team is convinced he is for real.
“He continues to show it, and we’ve been running him pretty hard,” manager Carlos Mendoza said after Kranick’s fifth appearance and fourth multi-inning effort in a 12-game season. “The good thing with him is he comes in and he attacks. He throws strikes. He’s not afraid to challenge hitters.”
The Mets technically found Kranick in January 2024, when they claimed a pitcher rehabbing from Tommy John surgery from the Pirates.
But back then he was a starter, and a hamstring strain quickly derailed his spring training. He built up in lower levels, reported to Triple-A Syracuse, was not sharp and was designated for assignment in May of that season.
Twenty-nine other teams could have claimed him, and no one did.
He was outrighted off the 40-man roster and returned to Syracuse determined to improve.
“He consistently sought out truth from player development and even the major league staff of: ‘Where do I stand?’ What do I need to do to get to where I want to go?’ ” Mets VP of pitching Eric Jagers said during camp. “And then he put his head down and worked for a really long time.”
Looking back, Kranick said, “I wasn’t very good, to be honest.” He was still searching for his velocity coming off the hamstring strain. He had lost some confidence.
After taking about a week to shake off the DFA frustration, Kranick and the Mets began rebuilding him. He wanted to get stronger. He had to get back in the right mental state. He was working on a sweeper. He had to find his old fastball.
“It was kind of just strengthening everything — kind of relearning how to pitch with the new elbow, things like that,” Kranick said. “And then all those things kind of took off at once.”
As a multi-inning reliever, Kranick pitched strongly enough from July to September that he was re-added to the 40-man roster and stunningly included on the wild-card roster.
The type of stuff that he showed in the minors has now shown up in the majors in a fairly incredible way: Opposing batters own a .068 on-base percentage against him.
Kranick, too, believes what he is doing is real.
“I think so,” Kranick said. “I trust my prep work and process. I’m sure I’m going to give up a run at some point, that’s just the game. But I still think I can execute better and be a little bit better stuff-wise.”