Richard Alan Kranitz (born September 15, 1958) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). Previously, he served as the

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Playing career

Kranitz attended Apollo High School in

Glendale, Arizona Glendale () is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located approximately northwest of Downtown Phoenix. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 248,325. History In the la ...

. He went to

Yavapai College Yavapai College is a public community college in Yavapai County, Arizona. The main campus is in Prescott, with locations in Clarkdale, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Sedona. History Yavapai College was established in 1965 by means of a c ...

and

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. Kranitz was drafted by the

in the fourth round (101st overall) of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft. He pitched in the minor leagues from 1979 through 1985 without making the majors.

Coaching career

Kranitz served as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

with the

Pikeville Cubs The Pikeville Cubs was the final moniker of the minor league baseball teams based in Pikeville, Kentucky. From 1982 to 1984, Pikeville teams played as a member of the Rookie level Appalachian League, hosting home games at the Pikeville Athletic ...

in 1984 and the

Winston-Salem Spirits Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

in 1985, though he pitched a total of three innings in those seasons. He served as a minor league pitching coach, Minor League Pitching Coordinator and an assistant coach for the Cubs organization through 2001, when he was named the bullpen coach for the 2002 season. Kranitz managed the

Daytona Cubs Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Dayt ...

in 2003 and served as the pitching coach for the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

in 2004 and 2005. Kranitz was named the pitching coach for the

in 2006. He was named ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

's'' 2006 Major League Coach of the Year in his first year as pitching coach for the Marlins. Kranitz remained with the Marlins in 2007, but resigned shortly before the end of the season. In 2008, Kranitz became the pitching coach for the

. There, he struggled to find the same success as in Florida; in 2008 and 2009 the Orioles' pitching staff posted team ERAs of 5.13 and 5.15, respectively. In 2010, although the end-of-year numbers were much more respectable, the team was doomed by a historically futile start that saw them win only 34 of their first 105 games. On November 1, 2010, Kranitz accepted an offer from the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

to become their minor league pitching coordinator. On November 15, 2010, it was announced that Kranitz would be replacing

Rick Peterson Erick Harding "Rick" Peterson (born October 30, 1954) is a former pitcher and coach (baseball), pitching coach in Major League Baseball. He was most recently the director of pitching development for the Baltimore Orioles. He was a pitcher in the P ...

as pitching coach for the Milwaukee Brewers. He was dismissed after the 2015 season. Kranitz became the bullpen coach for the

in the 2016 season, and was promoted to pitching coach for the 2018 season. Kranitz was fired by the Phillies shortly after the 2018 season. The

announced on December 6, 2018, that Kranitz had joined manager

Brian Snitker Brian Gerald Snitker (born October 17, 1955) is an American professional baseball coach and former player who is the manager of the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Snitker has been in the Braves organization in different roles si ...

's staff. Kranitz won the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

with the Atlanta Braves on November 2, 2021.

References

External links

*Coaching statistics and information fro
Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kranitz, Rick 1958 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Atlanta Braves coaches Baltimore Orioles coaches Baseball coaches from California Baseball players from California Burlington Bees players Chicago Cubs coaches El Paso Diablos players Florida Marlins coaches Holyoke Millers players Major League Baseball bullpen coaches Major League Baseball pitching coaches Milwaukee Brewers coaches Minor league baseball coaches Oklahoma State Cowboys baseball players Philadelphia Phillies coaches Pikeville Cubs players Sportspeople from San Rafael, California Stockton Ports players Vancouver Canadians players Winston-Salem Spirits players