Former Pirates first-round pick Will Craig gets the call to make major-league debut at Cards

When Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton called Will Craig into his office Thursday morning, the conversation was short and sweet.

The magnitude, however, was major.

“I think my exact words were, ‘Hey, do you want to play in a big-league game?’” Shelton said. “A big smile came across his face.”

Craig made his major-league debut Thursday afternoon when he started at first base and hit ninth in the lineup in the first game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

“One of the cool things you can do in this job is when you’re telling guys for the first time that they’re making their major-league debut,” Shelton said before the game. “Hasn’t been a ton of time but really there’s not a ton of things he needs to hear from me. He’s going to go out and play first and, hopefully, have a great game.”

Craig went 0 for 3 with a groundout to third and a pair of fly balls to left, including one that Tyler O’Neill caught at the 375-foot mark in left-center for the final out in the seventh inning. Jarrod Dyson pinch-ran for Craig in the eighth, and scored the go-ahead run in the Pirates’ 4-3 victory in the first game of the doubleheader.

The Pirates’ 2016 first-round pick (No. 22 overall) out of Wake Forest, Craig has both gold glove and power potential at first base but has been buried behind All-Star Josh Bell, Colin Moran and Jose Osuna.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Craig slashed .249/.326/.435 with 23 doubles and 23 home runs and 78 RBIs last season at Triple-A Indianapolis after slashing .248/.321/.448 with 20 homers and 102 RBIs at Double-A Altoona in 2018. He played in the 2019 Futures Game, and is ranked the No. 22 prospect in the organization by MLB.com.

That Craig got the call-up before third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, long regarded as the team’s top position prospect, is somewhat of a surprise. But first base depth is a bigger priority for the Pirates on this road trip, especially after Colin Moran was placed on the seven-day injured list with concussion symptoms.

Shelton said Craig, who was drafted as a third baseman, also spent time in right field at the team’s alternate training site in Altoona but hasn’t played on the hot corner.

“I would not envision, with our flexibility and the amount of guys we have that can play third that he wouldn’t go over there,” Shelton said. “I can’t totally say that he won’t go into the outfield but right now, probably, primarily just at first.”