Max Kranick grew up a huge New York Mets fan, going to games at Shea Stadium and Citi Field with his family and rooting for his favorite player David Wright.

Now, the Valley View graduate gets to play for his childhood team. He has earned a spot on the Mets’ Opening Day 26-man roster and will pitch out of the bullpen. New York begins the season Thursday in Houston against the Astros at 4:10 p.m.

Kranick was the talk of Mets camp with his impressive performance throughout spring training. The 27-year-old righthander appeared in eight games and allowed just two runs for a 1.46 earned-run average with 15 strikeouts and only 1 walk in 12.1 innings.

“I feel healthy, feel strong, I’m throwing hard again, the confidence is there,” Kranick said in a telephone interview prior to the start of spring training. “I got better in some areas that we addressed at the end of last season. I hope to pick up where I left off.

“Most of the stuff I worked on was two-strike execution stuff. I’d execute at a high clip 0-0, 0-1. But for some reason when I’d get to two strikes, I had pretty good results . But my K percentage can definitely take off with a better executed slider down and away or a sweeper ball out of the strike zone. It kind of sounds stupid but I need to throw more balls. I’ve been a strike thrower throughout my career. So 0-2, 1-2, take chances to strike guys out, especially in more of a reliever setting.”

Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 11th round in 2016, Kranick made his major-league debut with the Pirates on June 27, 2021, in St. Louis against the Cardinals and threw five perfect innings with three strikeouts before being removed following a rain delay. He got his first major-league win, 7-2.

In June 2022, Kranick underwent Tommy John surgery and spent most of his time in the minors working his way back. He was designated for assignment by the Pirates in January 2024 and claimed off waivers by the Mets one week later.

A hamstring injury during spring training last year set him back and he was outrighted off the Mets’ 40-man roster. He stayed with the organization and pitched for three teams in the Mets system. It was at Triple-A Syracuse that Kranick made the transition from starter to reliever. In 41 games with Syracuse, he went 2-1 with two saves and a 3.57 ERA. He struck out 53 in 63 innings and gradually got his velocity back.

“It was a slow start with my injury. The first two months were kind of like my spring training,” Kranick said. “I got healthy, got my stuff back, my confidence back. Right around Aug. 1 is when things started clicking again. I started feeling like myself, throwing hard and the results kind of came with it.”

The Mets rewarded his efforts by adding him to their postseason roster last year for the National League wild-card series against the Milwaukee Brewers and was around for the divisional round against the Philadelphia Phillies and NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Experiencing playoff baseball is only going to help me moving forward,” Kranick said. “You live and die with every pitch. It seems like a different game. There was so much excitement, it was so much fun. I’m super thankful I was a part of it.”

Now, Kranick will get to experience Opening Day in the major leagues.