It happened innocently enough. Erik Kratz was standing in the on-deck circle at 7:30 PST Friday night in Fresno, CA, prepared to take his first at-bat.
What wasn’t normal was what came next: The catcher got called back into the dugout. He wasn’t injured — far from it. He had just been acquired from the Los Angeles Angels by the Pittsburgh Pirates for $20,000.
The mad dash began.
He boarded three flights — one from Fresno to Salt Lake City, another from Salt Lake City to Minneapolis and a third and final one from Minneapolis to Pittsburgh. The itinerary would tire anyone, but Kratz didn’t have any time to sleep.
Instead, he arrived at PNC Park an hour before Saturday’s game and immediately went to work.
“You try to get your feet under you,” Kratz said of the situation. “It’s baseball.”
Indeed it is, and when he arrived Saturday, Kratz was shown video for the first three or four innings of each reliever who is available for the game and for Francisco Liriano, Saturday’s starter, in the event of an injury.
“(From) the outside view, it’s like drinking from a fireplace,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “Erik’s done this a number of times in his career.”
In that game, Kratz had to come in during the seventh inning when starter Chris Stewart was injured on a tag at the plate (regular starter Francisco Cervelli has been placed on the 15-day DL with a broken left hand that is expected to sideline him for four to six weeks). Kratz caught the final two innings.
“It’s tough, but (Kratz’s has) been around for a while,” Stewart said. “It’s better than a rookie getting thrown into the fire. He’s been on a few teams and has gotten used to having to learn on the fly. He is a smart and intelligent enough guy to figure it out.”
After Kratz caught two scoreless innings, his work wasn’t done; he had a meeting with Hurdle, Stewart, catching coach Brad Fischer and bullpen coach Euclides Rojas where both basic ideas of each relief pitcher and Sunday’s starter Jonathon Niese were discussed. Kratz wasn’t shown any video during this half-hour session — it was just words.
Because he was starting Sunday, Kratz left the stadium knowing it was time for some much-needed sleep.
Before Sunday’s game, he reflected on what it means to don the black and gold. He couldn’t help but think about the 2009 and 2010 seasons when he spent time with the Pirates’ organization in both the major and minor leagues. (He actually made his big league debut with Pittsburgh in 2010.) In a lot of those games, he played with the guys who currently make up the core of the Pirates’ major league club.
“During that time, I was one of the older guys in Triple-A and you like playing with the young guys, see them come up to the big leagues and have success,” Kratz said. “It’s something I’ve watched from afar, and it’s been exciting to see.”
Image credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images North America
