Franklin Regional grad Michael Krauza rejoins pro baseball team

Michael Krauza is back with the Cleburne Railroaders, an American Association of Professional Baseball team that is a “partner league” of Major League Baseball, after a brush with the minors.

Partner teams have no direct affiliation to MLB teams but can produce big-league prospects.

Krauza, a right-handed pitcher out of Franklin Regional, had a short stint with the New York Mets organization, most recently playing for the St. Lucie Mets in the Single-A Florida State League.

He appeared in three games and pitched 3 1/3 innings. Before that, he was 0-2 with an 8.53 ERA in six games with the High-A Brooklyn Cyclones of the South Atlantic League.

Krauza, 25, who played at St. Bonaventure and Mercyhurst, was with Cleburne in 2021 and 22.

He played in 37 games in ‘21 and was 3-2 with a 3.18 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in 45 1/3 innings of relief. He struck out 49 and walked 14. Last year, he was 0-1 with a save in 18 innings.

ROSTER UPDATE: The Railroaders have signed RHP Michael Krauza to the 2023 roster. Krauza returns to the club following a stint in the Mets organization.

Welcome back, Mike! pic.twitter.com/Fo9em5LiI5

— Cleburne Railroaders (@CRRBaseball) July 22, 2023

Krauza climbed back from an arm injury he suffered in college to become an Division II All-American at Mercyhurst.

In 2021, he led all D-II pitchers in strikeout-to-walk ratio with 71 strikeouts to four walks.

When the Mets bought his Cleburne contract, Krauza said, “So many times this game has appeared to be done for me, and God continues to let me keep playing.

“I’m not sure why just yet, and maybe I’ll never know, but I’m just going to be grateful for it all, even the ups and downs.”