Another Minor League Pitcher Debut, Another Strong Outing
Yesterday's series win over the St. Louis Cardinals was special for a couple of reasons. Not only were the Pirates able to take a series from the Cardinals in St. Louis, but it was also a "perfect" Major League debut for 23-year-old starting pitcher Max Kranick. Kranick retired all 15 batters that he faced in the game and would have gone even deeper into the start had it not been for a one-hour and four-minute rain delay following the fifth inning. Pitching through the raindrops in the beginning of the game, Kranick showed great composure on the mound and was not intimidated by a very good Cardinals lineup that included Paul Goldschmidt, Yadier Molina, and Nolan Arnenado. However, one of the most impressive things about the outing was Kranick's ability to attack the strike zone, with a strike rate of 72%.
This attacking of the strike zone has been a common theme among pitchers coming up from the Minor Leagues this season. They all look ready to compete when they hit the mound, and that is a nod to the work that the Pirates development team has done this season. Last season, we didn't get the opportunity to see many of the Minor Leaguers because of the lost season. However, with the Pirates development team in disarray, General Manager Ben Cherington brought in John Baker to head the development department and it has worked wonders. Pitchers are pounding the strike zone, and guys like Cody Ponce, Miguel Yajure, and now Max Kranick have come up and performed well. Today, we look at this year's debuts as opposed to years past, and see what has changed and made these pitchers that much more effective.
Strong Debuts in 2021
So far in 2021, the Pittsburgh Pirates have used 10 different starting pitchers in their first 76 games played. Aside from the five that started the year in the rotation, we have seen Wil Crowe, Miguel Yajure, Cody Ponce, Chase De Jong, and Max Kranick all debut. The one thing that all of these pitchers have had in common is their ability to attack the strike zone. Most recently, Kranick had the best outing in doing that, with a strike rate of 72% in his debut. However, all five of those guys have a strike percentage of over 60% and Kranick and Ponce each have strike rates of over 70%. When you are attacking the strike zone that much, it shows that these pitchers are more trusting of their defense, and are more confident in their arsenals overall that they can get batters out.
The first part of these young players' successes is the fact that they can trust their defense more this season. Last year, the Pirates had one of the worst defenses in all of baseball, ending the year with a .977 fielding percentage and the second-most errors in baseball ahead of the New York Yankees. Because of this, when a young pitcher would get his shot with the Big League club, he would always try to do too much and get the ball by the opposition rather than trusting the guys behind him. However, this year the Pirates are a top ten defense in the league, with a .984 fielding percentage, and are giving their pitchers better efforts. This is leading to more confidence to keep pitches in the strike zone, and areas where the opposition can generate soft contact.
The other big difference we have seen from this year's young pitchers and last year's young pitchers is a willingness to pound the strike zone. As we said before, every pitcher who has made his debut this season has had a strike rate of over 60%. Max Kranick's effort yesterday was by far the best of any other pitcher, as he didn't allow a hit and threw 72% of his pitches for strikes. A lot of this has to do with the fact that Joel Hanrahan is the new pitching coach at Triple-A. Everywhere he has been in the Pirates Minor League system, success has followed. He helps bring the best out of his young pitchers and allows them to pitch to their strengths rather than pitching to contact. With a guy like Kranick, he allows him to use his high-powered stuff to blow by hitters, but with a guy like Crowe, he has him pitch to contact more and trust his guys behind him. He has a plan for each individual pitcher and at the end of the day, it is helping these guys in the long run.
What It Means For The Future
What we are seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg compared to what is coming from the lower levels of the Minor Leagues. The highest-rated prospect that we have seen debut this year is Miguel Yajure, who is the Pirate's #11 overall prospect. There are still several talented arms in the lower levels of the Minor Leagues like Quinn Priester, Eddy Yean, and Tahnaj Thomas who are just starting in this new development system. John Baker is leading the charge and with his new plan in place, it should lead to more ready MLB players by the time they are set to make their debuts. So far, we have already seen how this preparation can help one pitcher, Cody Ponce, and the excitement continues to build for future prospects.
Of the players who made their debut this season, Ponce is the only one who you can really compare with the old regime. When Ponce came up last season, there was no Minor Leagues season, so he really didn't get the opportunity to prepare like he should have. That lack of preparation showed toward the latter half of the season. Overall, he pitched pretty well going 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA over five games, three starts. However, as the season went on, he started to attack the zone less and less. In the end, he had a strike rate of 62% and walked six batters in 17 innings. However, in his one start this season, he was much more in the zone, with just one walk in five innings and a strike rate of 71%. He was attacking the zone more, and if it wasn't for two home runs, it would have been a good outing.
As the Pirates move forward, development is more important than ever as they try and essentially rebuild from the ground up. It starts with developing a winning culture at every level of the organization and then translating that winning culture up to the Big Leagues. Right now, they are taking steps in the right direction with all four Pirates affiliate teams currently sitting with a winning record. Cherington and his staff are still in the process of acquiring talent, so there will be even more talent added to what was ranked as the #9 overall farm system by MLB Pipeline. With trade chips like Adam Frazier, Tyler Anderson, and Richard Rodriguez on the table, the Pirates are still looking to fetch high-level talent. It might be a slow process, but we are already seeing just a taste of what this regime can do in terms of developing talent.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (29-47) start a three-game series at Coors Field when they take on the Colorado Rockies (31-47) tonight at 5:10pm. Tyler Anderson (3-7, 4.82) takes the hill against his former team as he battles Kyle Freeland (0-2, 7.76) for the Rockies. You can watch the game live on AT&T Sportsnet, listen on 93.7 The Fan, or follow along with us on Twitter by following @Buccos_Cove.
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