Pirates Reinstate Duane Underwood Jr. From IL; Option Max Kranick to Triple-A

Prior to Thursday’s game against the Reds, the Pirates announced that they have reinstated Duane Underwood Jr. off the 10-day injured list and optioned Max Kranick to Triple-A Indianapolis. Underwood left the season opener with a right hamstring strain.

Underwood will rejoin the Pirates bullpen and give Derek Shelton another arm to call upon. Last season with the Pirates, the right-hander went 2-3 with a 4.33 ERA/4.27 FIP over 72.2 innings. He struck out 65 and walked 27 batters. On his rehab assignment, Underwood pitched 4.2 scoreless innings. He did allow a lot of traffic with four hits and four walks, but managed to strand runners.

Kranick has given the Pirates good work out of the bullpen over his two appearances. He pitched five scoreless innings on three hits, three walks of four strikeouts. Kranick will not get a chance to get stretched out as a starter with Indianapolis.