After struggling at third base, Colin Moran hopes to find a home at first with Pirates

After seeing Cedric Mullins swing early on the 2-0 pitch, Colin Moran anticipated that a grounder could be coming his way at first base. When Mullins pulled the next pitch down the first base line, Moran was ready.

With two runners in scoring position and two outs in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ spring training opener against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday in Sarasota, Moran went to his left to snag a hot grounder, took one step and tossed it to pitcher Wil Crowe to end the second inning.

“He made a really nice play to his glove side on that ball down the line, then got up and made a good flip, so I feel comfortable with him there,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “From talking to him, there’s things he’s still working on, just because he’s been on the other side of the field with cuts and relays and making sure he’s in the right spot so it’s second nature to him. But I feel very comfortable with him over there.”

After struggling defensively as the starting third baseman in his first two seasons with the Pirates, Moran was moved across the diamond last season. He shared time at first base with Josh Bell, playing 21 games there and 26 as designated hitter. When Bell was traded to the Washington Nationals this winter, Moran’s move became permanent.

At least, he hopes so.

Third base now belongs to star rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes, and the Pirates have a glut of middle infielders who can play shortstop or second base in Erik Gonzalez, Kevin Newman, Cole Tucker and Wilmer Difo. For Moran, it might be first base or bust now that there’s no DH in the NL.

“I don’t necessarily worry too much about consistency in the lineup, but it kind of makes things a little more natural, getting into a rhythm with things,” said Moran, who batted cleanup and flew out to left with the bases loaded in the first but reached on an error and scored on Gregory Polanco’s homer in the 6-4 win over the Orioles. “Wherever they need me defensively is always nice.”

In three years with the Pirates since being acquired in the Gerrit Cole trade in January 2018, Moran has flashed enough power to keep his bat in the lineup. He hit .277 with 13 home runs and 80 RBIs in 2019, then led the Pirates with 10 homers and 23 RBIs in 52 games last year. Moran said he spent the offseason trying to add more muscle for power.

Moran has played first, second and third base, one game at shortstop and even two games in left field — which he called “a little foreign.”

“I think I hopped out there,” Moran said, “and felt like I was on a different planet.”

Moran is hoping he has found a home at first base, even if it’s in a possible platoon with 35-year-old veteran slugger Todd Frazier. Both have played far more games at third base than at first, so they are still making adjustments in the transition to first.

Where Moran was one of baseball’s worst defensive third basemen — he had 14 errors and a .938 fielding percentage there in 2019 — he has found his range might be better on the opposite corner because of his comfort level of going to his left. It’s hard to be worse than Bell, who had minus-8 defensive runs saved in 2019 and minus-13 in 2018 and made three of his four errors last season on wild submarine throws.

Moran is working with Pirates third base coach Joey Cora, who coaches infielders, on the position’s nuances like where to go on different throws and how to approach things like a slow roller or a backhand stop and where to position himself on the bag for throws from short and third.

“Simple things, like how to stretch off the base, things that when we get flung over there from third, you just adjust to naturally,” Moran said.

“I think we’ll be a good infield, defensively. I’m looking forward to playing with these guys. Personally just trying to go over little things that you don’t really think about until you go over there, which is nice to have a little more time to focus on.”