MORGANTOWN, WV – Will Craig did not get off to a good start in his pro career. The first round pick by the Pirates went to Morgantown, where he hit for a .540 OPS in 89 plate appearances during his first month. He also had five errors in 11 games at third, and while errors aren’t always the best way to judge minor league fielding abilities, they only led to concerns that he won’t be able to stick at third base in the long-term.
Craig has started to heat up lately. He currently has a 15 game hitting streak, entering Monday night’s game in Morgantown. In his last 20 games, spanning 87 plate appearances, he has a .925 OPS, and has started showing some power, with eight doubles and his first pro home run. The errors haven’t improved, with eight in his most recent 17 games played at third, but he’s showing a lot of positive signs right now.
While I was in Morgantown, I talked with Craig and his manager Wyatt Toregas about his turnaround, while also getting input from Infield Coordinator Gary Green and Hitting Coordinator Larry Sutton.
The Offensive Turnaround
The early struggles from Craig, along with the quick turnaround, bring back a memory of what Kevin Newman went through last year. Newman was drafted as a great hitter, and we’ve certainly seen that this year. However, he didn’t show that at all in Morgantown last year, until later in the season, right before his promotion to West Virginia. Craig, also regarded as a great hitter, seems to be taking the same path.
“You never know what’s going to happen with anybody who comes from college into pro ball,” Toregas said. “There’s adjustments with the wood, there’s adjustments with the pitching. A lot of times, too, these guys have taken about a month off before they get here. They haven’t faced pitching for about a month. When you don’t face pitching for one day, that can mess up your timing. You imagine taking a month off, and all of a sudden you’re facing a higher caliber pitching with a wooden bat, that’s going to throw some trouble at you. Some guys just grab on and go, and some guys it takes them a little bit.”
The Pirates don’t make changes with new players as far as their hitting mechanics or their swing, at least until the Fall Instructional League (instructs) rolls around at the end of the year. They haven’t made any changes with Craig’s hitting, but they did make a slight adjustment with his work day.
“He’s doing everything exactly the same,” Toregas said. “What we did change is his work day a little bit. The way we are flipping [batting practice in the cages] to him. We’re not flipping underhand anymore. We’re flipping overhand. That keeps his mechanics more crisp. We don’t want to jump into mechanics, because it becomes mental. We want to jump intro drills that require mechanics to happen. It’s a different way of teaching.”
Craig noted that the overhand approach gives more of a downward plane, and helps him hit the ball like he would in a game. As for the turnaround, a lot of it involved just getting confidence back.
“I think the big thing for me is getting confidence back in myself,” Craig said. “I got a few hits in a few games back to back. Getting confidence back in myself. Not that I didn’t have confidence in myself, but once you struggle a little bit, it’s hard to go out there everyday when your average isn’t where it wants to be, and you know you’re a better player than you’re showing.”
Pirates Minor League Hitting Coordinator Larry Sutton got his first live look at Craig on Sunday, and came away impressed. Craig went 1-for-4 with a double and a walk, and showed good things in all of his at-bats.
“He had solid at-bats today,” Sutton said after the game. “Even the swing and misses — his timing and rhythm, I see the advanced approach. I see what our scouts saw in him. Line drive to right field, just missed the ball to right-center. He squared it up, but that was on a changeup. He’s got an advanced cat and mouse [approach]. It’s not always trying to connect to the fastball out in front, and struggle with off-speed. He’s kind of advanced where he knows how to do that off-gap approach.”
Sutton has seen a lot of video, and is familiar with what the Pirates saw in Craig when they drafted him. So far, Craig has lived up to the hype.
“Advanced approach, advanced bat. Knows how to hit. Came from a decent hitting league. Has played some ball with wooden bats. Good kid,” Sutton said. “A lot of the positives that we look for when we draft and sign, especially at the higher levels, fits right into our program.”
There was really no question about Craig’s ability to hit, even with the switch to wooden bats. The biggest question is whether he will hit for power in pro ball. That’s going to take some time to figure out. The NYPL isn’t the best atmosphere for power, and it won’t get much easier next year in Bradenton, with the Florida State League being just as pitcher friendly, with a lot of deep parks. But Craig isn’t concerned with his future power right now.
“I’m not worried about it,” Craig said. “Obviously I haven’t had home runs in a lump. But I’ve hit balls, doubled off the wall several times, hit lineouts to the wall several times.”
Craig noted that he should see his power jump after extended time in the weight room, with the pro ball lifestyle allowing more time for that than he had in college. That will hopefully turn some of his doubles (11 in 176 PA) into home runs, and singles into doubles.
“In school you have fall practices and scrimmages,” Craig said. “Down here, you just have the off-season, and you just lift. … “Pretty easy right now working out. Once I get to the off-season, I’ll try to get some more muscle under me, and hopefully those balls start going out.”
Craig should be a good hitter, with the ability to hit for a high average and get on base. He has the build to hit for power, and working on his conditioning can only help him in that area.
Sticking at Third Base
The Pirates drafted Craig as a third baseman, with a lot of draft reports suggesting that he will have to eventually move to first base due to his size and poor fielding skills. Their plan to keep him at third base for as long as possible isn’t a bad one. His bat would be far more valuable at third base. In looking at the Pirates’ system, having him at third doesn’t make as much sense, as Ke’Bryan Hayes projects to stick at third and is the best defensive third baseman in the system. But you can never have too much depth, so the Pirates will go with both guys until one of them emerges as an MLB option.
Craig’s off-season conditioning will play a big role in his ability to hit for power, but will play a bigger role for his ability to stick at third base. Pirates’ Infield Coordinator Gary Green has seen him and worked with him for about six games now, and while no changes have been made, there is a plan to have him focus solely on conditioning, rather than fielding, this off-season.
“It’s going to be a big off-season for him this year,” Green said. “Now, he’s got through a half a year of this stuff, and getting ready going into next year. Stuff he can work on this winter in the weight room — agility, quickness. It’s all stuff to address when we get down [to instructs]. But I think that’s going to be the biggest thing, to get him in really good shape physically, and then teach him the technique that he’s going to need to use if he’s going to play that position.”
This is the same approach the Pirates took with Josh Bell last off-season. He didn’t work on fielding, but instead focused on conditioning, to get a good foundation for his fielding work this year. He still has a ways to go with his defense, but has shown improvements from last year, and is much more agile. The hope is that the same thing will happen with Craig.
“That’s the biggest thing, especially for Bell coming from the outfield, it’s a whole different position. From being so far away from the ball, to closer to the ball, things happen fast,” Green said. “We have to be quicker, we have first step quickness stuff, drills, crossover drills. I think those are all things that will help Will, as we get into instructional leagues.”
The conditioning is going to allow him to have better first-step quickness, which is the key for third base.
“I think that some of the setup position, getting in a good bounce position so he can get off the ball,” Green said. “He starts a little bit low right now. But that’s okay. We’re just evaluating him. We’ll hit some things in the instructional league that might help him, and then some stuff that he might take a look at this winter and do this winter in terms of quickness and agility stuff.”
As for the errors, you’d think that some of those would be chalked up to the playing surface in Morgantown. The field is a turf field, and while Craig played on turf at Wake Forst, that was a rubber-based turf, while Morgantown is sand-based, leading to different bounces and hops. Craig has noted that it has been difficult adjusting to that, then adjusting back to natural surfaces on the road, only to get back to the turf after a long road trip.
The interesting thing about the errors is that they’re not all due to the field. In fact, he has seven throwing errors, five fielding errors, and one missed catch. Only two of the fielding errors came at home.
“Most of my errors were from throwing,” Craig said. “Just getting my footwork down, and making sure everything is going to first base or second base. I had to get my arm used to throwing everyday. At school, you’d play 4 or 5 times a week at most. Now playing seven days a week, and having one off day every several weeks, it’s getting my arm back in the swing of things after taking a few weeks off.”
If Craig doesn’t stick at third, then first base is an option for him. He played that in college, and I talked with a scout last week who saw him in college, and had no concerns with his ability if he has to make the switch to first.
The reason Craig played first base in college was due to saving his arm when he was a starting pitcher. He has the ability to throw 94 MPH off the mound, and that arm strength gives him a plus arm at third base, as long as the accuracy issues work themselves out.
“I played first base a lot in my sophomore year in college,” Craig said of his history at the position. “I was starting pitching on Saturday or Sunday. I played first to save my arm. Once I moved to the bullpen this past year, they moved me back to third. I’ve played third mostly, but I have some time at first. Even if they want me to move there, I’ll do it with no complaints. But I hope they want me to stay at third and work with me at third.”
The fact that Craig didn’t get as much time at third base in college gives some hope that some of his issues are due to inexperience. He got a full season at third this year, and is continuing that in Morgantown.
“Everyday I feel like I’m getting better,” Craig said. “Hops are coming naturally, reading balls off the bat. It takes a little bit of time, especially for me where I did play first for much of my sophomore year. Going back, it took me some time, and transitioning from college to pro, it’s a little bit of a transition, but overall it’s been pretty good.”
This is an organization that stuck with Pedro Alvarez at third base for six years, despite similar concerns on draft day that he would eventually have to move to first base. I can see them taking their time with Craig, and giving him every opportunity to show he can make it at the position. If he doesn’t make it, he should be fine defensively at first, with more emphasis placed on his power production if that switch happens. For now, expect him to remain at third, work on getting comfortable at the position, and work on his conditioning, which can help the power and the fielding.
