Pirates’ comeback candidates: 4 players with something to prove in spring training

BRADENTON, Fla. — When he reported for spring training last week, it had been nearly a decade since Drew Maggi last stepped foot inside Pirate City.

“Man, it’s weird,” Maggi said. “It’s a good feeling, you know, a lot of familiar faces around here. The smell hasn’t changed.”

The smell? The complex is imbued with what seems like a typical clubhouse scent — a musky combination of leather, dirt and desperate desire for success. Is that a good or a bad thing?

“Oh, it’s a good thing,” Maggi said with a laugh. “It brings me back to when I first started playing. I’ve been on this long journey, so coming back to the roots is kind of special.”

Baseball loves its comeback stories. Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and others came home after World War II and resumed their on-field heroics. Jameson Taillon, Jon Lester and Eric Davis won battles against cancer. Tommy John’s career was resurrected by the surgery that now bears his name.

This spring, the Pirates’ camp roster is dotted with several players who are trying to recapture some past magic. Here’s a look at four potential comeback kids.

Drew Maggi: So close to the dream

“The first time I saw (Drew Maggi), I thought he was a coach,” one player whispered. Wiry and unshaven, Maggi, 33, looks more grizzled than the 20-somethings who pull on their gear at lockers on the side of the clubhouse reserved for prospects and non-roster invitees, but he can match their energy. Now and then, he can even surpass it.

This camp is a sort of homecoming for Maggi, whom the Pirates drafted in the 15th round in 2010. He’s played for six clubs, bouncing up and down every level of the minors.

During his first go-round with the Pirates, Maggi climbed to Double A. He made it to Triple A with the Dodgers, Guardians and Twins. On Sept. 18, 2021, the Twins called him up to the majors when outfielder Rob Refsnyder sustained an elbow injury.

“It was out of the blue,” Maggi said. “One day, I was in St. Paul, playing and grinding, and next thing you know I was in Toronto, hitting in the cage and (BS-ing) with people on the field. I was loving it.”

Two days later, Maggi was sent back to St. Paul. He did not get to play in a big-league game.

“It’s part of the story, you know?” Maggi said with a shrug. “I don’t really look at anything as (being) good or bad. It just happens. You look back on it, you learn and grow from it. We’ve all got one big chapter of our lives to write.”

Last August, when Maggi was a little-used infielder with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, the Phillies traded him to the Pirates.

“My first reaction was like, ‘What?’” Maggi said. He felt better about the move after seeing some pals from earlier in his career, Triple-A Indianapolis manager Miguel Perez and bench coach Gary Green.

“I hadn’t seen those guys in nine or 10 years,” Maggi said. “It was a cool experience, so I started to feel a little more optimistic about things.”

During the offseason, Maggi re-signed on a minor-league deal. He knows he’s not going to take a job away from shortstop Oneil Cruz or third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, and that a spot with Indy awaits him at the end of camp.

Yet, sometimes, lightning strikes.

“I’m gonna go until they stop calling,” Maggi said. “I just love the game and I like to grind. People ask me all the time, ‘Mag, what are you doing, huh? Why don’t you get into something else?’ No, no, I love it. As long as I can put on a jersey, I’ll do this as long as I can.”

Matt Gorski: Breakout season, interrupted

A second-round pick in 2019, Matt Gorski is part of the draft class that was hurt the most by the pandemic. After the one-year minor-league pause, he batted .224/.294/.416 in 2021 with High-A Greensboro.

He was sent back to Greensboro to begin 2022.“You never want to repeat a level, but it probably was necessary considering what I had done the year before,” Gorski said.

That lit a fire under Gorski. He put together a breakthrough season, but it might have been even better if he hadn’t gone down twice with a torn quad.

Gorski clubbed 17 homers in 37 games and was moved up to Double-A Altoona. He put up a 1.007 OPS through 23 games and seemed to be on a fast track to Triple A — or higher. “There was talk about me moving up and maybe getting a chance to play in the big leagues,” Gorski said.

At the end of June, Gorski tore his quad and team doctors said he was done for the season. Deflated, he flew to Florida to search for an apartment, figuring he’d be stuck in Bradenton for a long rehab.

“Pirate City is a great place, but you don’t want to spend all summer locked away here,” Gorski said. “Through the rehab, I was ahead of schedule, there were no hiccups and I was back to running as fast as I was before.”

It looked like Gorski would be ready in time to play in the Arizona Fall League, after all. He surprised the doctors again by coming off the injured list in early September and getting back in action with Altoona. On Sept. 20, Gorski was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis. He played in one game before re-injuring the quad, which ended his season.

Despite the injuries, Gorski finished the season third among Pirates minor leaguers with 24 homers and seventh with 21 stolen bases. He batted a combined .280/.358/.598.

“I wasn’t surprised by the power,” Gorski said. “I think people were surprised by the contact that made the power. I hadn’t always been a ‘hit guy’ in the minors. Last year, all of my barrel numbers jumped off of the board compared to my other years. Once you put bat on ball, then you can really show your power output.”

Gorski is in camp as a non-roster player and wants to show what he did last season was not a mirage. He’s ticketed to begin this season with Indy, where he expects to get a lot of work at first base in addition to his natural position in the outfield.

“Especially with (Andrew) McCutchen coming back, we have a ton of talent in the outfield,” Gorski said. “Whoever breaks out this year is gonna have a chance to break through (to the majors).”

Jason Delay: Retirement plans on pause

In an alternate universe where there is no COVID-19, Jason Delay retired from baseball on June 19, 2022, and became an accountant.

A fourth-round pick in 2017, Delay, 27, put up mediocre numbers in the minors. A few weeks into last season, Delay was told he wasn’t going to get any more playing time.

“It’s not fun being a Triple-A bullpen catcher,” Delay said. “I was close to finishing up grad school, so, yeah, I was starting to consider other options.”

Delay decided he would remain with Indianapolis through a mid-June road series at Gwinnett, which is a 20-minute drive from his hometown of Johns Creek, Ga. After the June 19 game, the Indians would move on to their next game and Delay would drive in the opposite direction toward a new career.

“Fortunately, things took an interesting turn,” he said.

Before a series against the Cardinals, Pirates bullpen catcher Jordan Comadena tested positive for COVID-19. Delay was summoned to St. Louis to be on the taxi squad and fill in for Comadena — sort of a big-league gig, albeit not as a big-league player.

When reliever Duane Underwood Jr. also tested positive, the Pirates had to fill the roster spot ASAP. Less than a week before what he thought would be his retirement day in the minors, Delay found himself on the major-league roster.

“I’ve always felt I have the talent to play in the big leagues,” Delay said. “I just needed some small break to show my ability.”

Over 57 games, Delay batted .213/.265/.271. After the season, he was designated for assignment. He is in camp as a non-roster player.

“To be honest, my mentality hasn’t really changed,” Delay said. “I still feel like I’m a really good catcher and I still feel like I can compete in the big leagues.”

Over the winter, Delay completed his MBA degree. But, for now, any plans to leave baseball are on hold.

The odds of this comeback coming true, however, are long. The Pirates signed Austin Hedges to be the starting catcher. Kevin Plawecki and Tyler Heineman are battling for the backup job. Top prospects Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis could be ready for call-ups this summer.

“I try not to look around too much,” he said. “Yeah, we signed some guys, but I feel like I have the confidence to play in the big leagues. That was a big thing for me this offseason — making a conscious effort to work on my confidence. I’m at the point where I can look around and say, ‘Hey, man, I belong here. I belong in the big leagues.’”

Max Kranick: Post-surgery tedium

Sitting on a plane bound for Florida to begin a long, grueling rehab from Tommy John surgery, Max Kranick looked at his watch and noticed the date. It was June 27, 2022 — exactly one year after he made his big-league debut.

“It was a very humbling anniversary,” said Kranick, who had reconstructive elbow surgery last June 4. “It went from being the coolest day ever (in 2021) to the day I began all this (in 2022).”

Eight months later, Kranick is still working out at Pirate City, but he is not taking part in spring training. He’s on a carefully monitored throwing regimen along with cardio and other drills.

For the past couple of weeks, Kranick threw 65 pitches a day, four times a week. This week, he’s up to five throwing sessions. He has a light workout on Saturdays and is off on Sundays.

If all goes well, Kranick will move to six sessions a week in March, then shut it down for two weeks. After that, he’ll build up quickly to mound progressions by the end of April or early May, followed by live batting practice sessions in June.

It’s all very structured and terribly exhausting and incredibly mundane. But it’s necessary if Kranick wants to have a shot at making the team out of spring camp in 2024.

“It makes it easier to show up, knowing there’s a light at the end of the tunnel,” Kranick said.

Kranick was eager for spring training to begin, even though he’s in a rehab program instead of getting ready for a big-league season.

“The first couple days were more difficult than I expected because everyone’s ready to go and throwing bullpens, and I’m doing PFPs (fielding drills),” Kranick said. “Some days, I feel like I’m sort of in the way. But it’s great to be around the guys again.”

(Top photo of Drew Maggi courtesy of Pittsburgh Pirates)