Rick Kranitz has seen many positive changes over the years. A minor league pitcher in the Milwaukee Brewers system for five seasons beginning in 1979, he joined the coaching staff in 1984 and has been teaching pitchers ever since. As noted when I spoke with him on FanGraphs three years ago, “Kranny” has served as a pitching coach for several major league teams, including the one he joined in 2019, the Atlanta Braves.
Unlike our 2021 interview, which covered a variety of topics, this one focuses on just one offer. I sat down with Kranitz to talk about the change when the Braves visited Boston earlier this month.
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David Laurila: I want to ask you about the pitcher you were with for 40 plus years, a young man who changed a lot.
Rick Kranitz: “You must be talking about Greg Maddux.”
Laurila: Actually, no. I'm referring to Doug Jones, a longtime assistant.
Kranitz: “I played with him as children. I also had Maddux [as a pitching coach] when he was very young – his first year [of pro ball] – but Doug Jones. Wow.”
Laurila: Has Jones already had a big change in the kids?
Kranitz: “Yes, he did. He was a starter when I played with him. The thing that was so different about him was that he could change the speed with it. He can answer it again. He had a great feel for baseball. He didn't throw hard, but that changes – he just threw it, and it was really good. Jamie Moyer is another guy who had a really good transition. I've been blessed to see guys who have been incredibly successful in the big leagues, and they've had an incredible turnaround.”
Laurila: My favorite fact about Doug Jones is that he had 20 or more save seasons with five different teams.
Kranitz: “You know what's so crazy about this? I was drafted and signed in 1979, and back then it was just show up with the team and play. There were no small camps and the like. So, I show up – I want to say we were in the Quad Cities – and we're playing a doubleheader. You start the first game and I start the second. I came out and saw that the score was 0-0. I go back, and I come back in the eighth inning – doubleheaders were seven innings – and it's still 0-0. The ninth inning. The tenth inning. Eleventh inning, 12th inning. I said, 'Oh my god, what's going on here?' Doug Jones comes out in the 13th inning, and with two outs a ground ball goes through the legs of our second baseman and we lose 1-0. I'm on the bench thinking, 'I hope they don't expect me to go 12, 13 innings.' That's what it was like back in the late 1970s and early 1980s.”
Laurila: How many innings did you end up pitching?
Kranitz: “Six of them. We were on the road, and we lost, so it was a perfect game. That's what we were expected to do. We weren't looking over our shoulder.”
Laurila: Have you changed?
Kranitz: “I'm not very good, I was a sinker/slider. But just talking to the guys, and seeing how big their hands are… usually, when you put change in somebody's hand and they throw it, sometimes it's like, 'Oh my god.' But most guys never get to throw one. They just have no feeling. Mike Morgan played for 23 years and always had trouble changing. In his last year in the big leagues, he said to me, 'I think I got it. I think I've found a changed person.' It was the same one he started with, back when he started throwing. He was going full circle.
“For some guys, like Jamie Moyer – it was natural for him. And the whole idea is really selling. You want to catch to kill the speed of the pitch, and I believe you have to feel like it's a power pitch. Too many guys lower their arms, trying to kill the speed of the pitch. That's not it.
“Greg Maddux's changeup was about 4-5 mph on his fastball. I'll hear people say, 'It should be 10.' No, what you do is look at each person and see what works. Some boys are eight, some boys are 10. Some boys are 12. Maddux had four or five children. You work with someone and find a difference in the pace you work for. “
Laurila: He is a fan of positive change…
Kranitz: “Yes. If you have a change – a good change – you can start in the big leagues with two pitches. In my opinion, he has a better chance of navigating the lineup with a fastball/changeup than the other two combinations. [fastball/curveball and fastball/slider]. It's all about managing bat speed, right? When you start getting hitters back and forth, it becomes more difficult for them.
“Back in the day, you had Mario Soto with the Reds. He had a big change. I was with Marco Estrada in Baltimore. He had a big change. And now, many right-handers are making the switch to right-handed hitters. That is a good place for boys to go. Guys with a big changeup, they throw it and hitters see the fastball. The first time I saw anyone do that was Trevor Hoffman. He had good command of his fastball, and used that changeup to keep guys off balance. On and on.”
Laurila: Said Doug Jones throwing a variation of his changeup. That was a big part of his performance?
Kranitz: “Definitely. He saw that people would stay in the field, and do it. Especially now, because there is so much information out there. If they know Doug Jones throws a 50% changeup, they'll take away his fastball and stick to his changeup. Now, if he has a different version of it – maybe one sinks and one will cut – that's not so easy. Kyle Hendricks and the Cubs. He began to have different versions of his transformation.
“And let's not forget that these guys have great command. You can't just throw the ball. Doug Jones had good command of his fastball, Hendricks has good command of his. They know where to throw the baseball. There's already a sound, so now it's, 'Okay, let's see what I can do with my change. Where can I order it? How many different quadrants can I throw it into? What can I do with football?' It's great if you know how to use it.”
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