Max Kranick couldn't have been better in his Major League debut.
He was perfect through 5 innings before a St. Louis storm caused an hour-long rain delay that ended his afternoon.
Kranick was so good that he could have done one of those Disney commercials.
"Hey Max Kranick! You just retired all 15 batters you faced in your first big league appearance. What are going to do now?"
"I'm going to . . ." Indianapolis?!?!?
As you've heard, in their infinite wisdom, the Pirates made the extraordinary organizational decision to send Kranick back to Triple-A after his sparkling performance.
Not only did he retire 15 straight batters, but three of the batters Kranick retired twice – Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Arenado and Yadier Molina - have appeared in 20 All-Star games combined. This wasn't some diluted Sunday afternoon line-up he faced.
Yet, just as he had given Pirates fans something to cheer for and at least a glimpse of some hope for the future, what did Kranick get for his trouble? He got demoted.
Certainly this couldn't have been Derek Shelton's idea.
Like the rest of us, he was probably envisioning Kranick making his Pittsburgh debut this Saturday which is also part of a heavily promoted Re-Opening Weekend.
Yet, since he speaks to the media pretty much every day – and usually both before and after games – it was up to Shelton to be the front man to explain this puzzling decision.
"Yeah, he's going to back to Indy and get another start," Shelton said after Monday's loss in Colorado. "He did a job (but) we wanted another bullpen arm. (Cody) Ponce will be in the bullpen here, especially coming into Colorado and because (Duane) Underwood threw 3 innings (Sunday), because we had to make sure we had some length coverage."
I thought that's what Chris Stratton and Clay Holmes are for but silly me.
Shelton certainly doesn't feel a need to protect Kranick as he has done with other inexperienced pitchers this season. When I asked Shelton Sunday if was afraid he might have to take Kranick after 6 or 7 or 8 innings had the rain not intervened, he said not at all.
"If it would have been a high pitch count then maybe it makes for a little more anxiety," Shelton explained. "The fact that he was so efficient (50 pitches) throughout the first 5 innings, he was in a good spot and as long as he stayed efficient he was going to stay in the game."
Now, Kranick's next game is scheduled to be in Indianapolis and according to the rules he is not eligible to return to the major league roster for 10 days unless … there is an injury.
So there is a chance the Pirates can undo this wrong. One of the easiest things for a big league team to do is concoct an injury, especially for a pitcher. Any kind of arm/elbow/shoulder discomfort will do.
I understand that Kranick will be brought back after those 10 days are up, maybe after the All-Star break. He deserves another shot and will get it. It's just that sending him down after he did every thing right sends the wrong message to a young player. Luckily for him – and the organization – Indianapolis pitching coach Joel Hanrahan is the perfect guy to walk Kranick through the process.
But it's too bad that Kranick won't get a chance to start Saturday in Pittsburgh. It's Neil Walker Day so it's also too bad for Neil. I can pretty much guarantee you that Walker was looking forward to seeing Kranick pitch at PNC Park, too.
