Chiefs' Kruczynski perfect in pro debut

Evan Kruczynski put off the opportunity to pitch in the pros for one season. On Tuesday he showed he was worth the wait.
The Cardinals' ninth-round pick in this month's Draft tossed four perfect innings in his Minor League debut as Class A Peoria defeated Beloit, 10-8, at Dozer Park. He struck out two and threw 29 of his 39 pitches for strikes.

Kruczynski breezed right from the start, needing only seven pitches to get through his first frame following an 11 a.m. CT start time. He was even more efficient in the third, using six pitches to get three outs. In all, he threw first-pitch strikes to 11 of the 12 Snappers he faced.
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"I wasn't too nervous or anything," said Kruczynski. "It's still the game of baseball, and I just wanted to go out there and have fun like I always do. In the pregame bullpen, I felt like I was slinging it pretty well, so I turned to [catcher Ryan McCarvel] and said, 'Alright, let's go right after them and attack these guys.' Some days, they hit it right at people. Some days, they don't. Today, they did."
That confidence showed from the dugout.
"I saw a guy who didn't look nervous at all for someone making their pro debut," said Chiefs manager Chris Swauger. "He was under control the whole time with a good pace and good rhythm and tempo, the whole thing. All three of his pitches were finding the strike zone. It's what you love to see the first time out."
The 22-year-old left-hander was taken with the 274th overall pick out of East Carolina University after his senior year with the Pirates. He posted a 4.47 ERA with 48 strikeouts and seven walks over 56 1/3 innings but missed a good chunk of time with a broken leg that he suffered in March.
"The injury was tough because it was so crazy," Kruczynski said. "Being a pitcher, you're expecting it to be the arm that gets injured. But a comebacker that breaks a leg, that's tough. All the strength coaches and trainers at East Carolina did a great job helping me get back, and I tried to help my team win some games. But it was tough adjusting because it was my push-off leg. Now that I've taken a little time, about a month off, that gave me a little while to settle down and come into this fresh."
He initially put himself on the map with an impressive junior season, posting a 2.01 ERA with 95 strikeouts and 27 walks in 116 2/3 innings. That run helped push East Carolina to the NCAA Super Regionals and earned Kruczynski a spot on D1Baseball.com's 2016 All-American Third Team alongside first-rounders Nick Senzel and Dakota Hudson. However, the southpaw didn't hear his name called last June after telling teams he was intent on heading back to Greenville to lead East Carolina to its first College World Series. 
With the injury limiting him to only 10 starts as a senior, the 6-foot-5 hurler fell to the Cardinals in the ninth round -- St. Louis' seventh pick in the Draft -- and signed for $3,000, according to MLB.com's Jim Callis, who said Kruczynski is known for his changeup. Swauger said he didn't get to see Kruczynski face live hitting before today, but that everything came as advertised.

"We hear information from scouting reports, and they all said he could throw strikes with all three of his pitches," said the Chiefs manager. "He's not a guy that messes around. He's up there to throw strikes, and that's exactly what he did. It's a pretty impressive job. We knew he hadn't pitched a bit because of the injury, so his arm was a little fresh, too. Just like every other drafted guy, we have to bring them along a little bit. It's a shame he couldn't keep going."
Despite how well the debut was going and that he was still under his pitch limit, Kruczynski was pulled after four innings, but Swauger expects the reigns will be loosened as the lefty gets deeper into his Midwest League career. 
With Tuesday out of the way, Kruczynski's new manager expects him to tackle those next starts with even more trust in himself.
"What this tells him is that he can pitch at this level," Swauger said. "Any guy pitching in pro ball coming off their amateur career, there's always that small hint of doubt, or there seems to be. But when this happens, he's gotten over that pretty quickly and can move forward with a lot of confidence."
Looking forward, Kruczynski, who grew up a Brewers fan and got to see fellow East Carolina alum Seth Maness' first Major League win with St. Louis in Milwaukee, is ready to show Cardinals fans that the best is still to come.
"I'm not going to be a flashy guy with lots of velocity or anything like that," he said. "I don't have a wipeout breaking ball. But I am a guy who's going to fill up the zone. That's the guy who got me to this point in my career. I'll be a great teammate, try to be coachable, get along with the guys. I'm looking forward to it."
Peoria's attempt at a perfect game didn't last long following Kruczynski's departure. Bryan Donzanski tossed a perfect fifth but allowed six unearned runs on three hits and two walks in the sixth frame. Beloit captured an 8-6 lead in the top of the eighth, but a solo homer by Danny Hudzina and an RBI double by Vince Jackson tied it up again in the bottom half of the frame. McCarvel game the Chiefs the walk-off win with a two-run blast in the ninth.
Peoria is now 5-1 in the second half of the Midwest League season after finishing the first half 30-39 and in seventh place in the eight-team Western Division.
"Our guys are excited with any walk-off, but especially this one with the way we had to ride the wave," Swauger said. "We get off to a quick start, take one on the chin, then answer back. These are the types of games good teams win, and especially in this second half, I think we can learn to appreciate these types of wins more."