Pittsburgh Pirates rookie right-hander Max Kranick is headed back to the minor leagues despite a perfect Major League Baseball debut performance.
TribLIVE.com reports Kranick, 23, was optioned back to Triple-A Indianapolis even after retiring all 15 batters faced during a hitless five-inning performance on Sunday.
The Pirates instead opted to recall right-hander Cody Ponce to fill their six-man rotation in preparation for a schedule of 20 upcoming games in 20 days.
Ponce also made one start this season, allowing nine hits (two home runs) and four runs during a five-inning 4-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Manager Derek Shelton said he and general manager Ben Cherington were "working through" Kranick's immediate future after his performance on Sunday prior to making the decision to option him back to Triple-A.
“He’s going to go back to Indy and get another start. He did a good job,” Shelton said after the Pirates' 2-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Monday (June 28) viaTribLIVE. “We wanted another bullpen arm. Ponce will be in the bullpen here, just especially coming into Colorado and then the fact that (Duane) Underwood threw three innings (Sunday), so we had to make sure that we had some length covered.”
Cherington said the Pirates plan to use a six-man rotation through the All-Star break next month, which includes Tyler Anderson, Chase De Jong, Chad Kuhl, J.T. Brubaker, and Wil Crowe.
The sixth spot is still a mystery for the remainder of the 2021 season with Steven Brault (left lat strain) and Trevor Cahill (left calf strain) currently on the injured list, as well as Mitch Keller in Indianapolis attempting to regain his command.
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