Former Pirates first baseman Will Craig ready for fresh start in KBO

“I feel like that play kind of defined me,” Craig told the Post-Gazette in a phone interview on Tuesday. “I didn’t want that to be the case. That’s another thing that went into my decision to go over there. I need to almost start over in a way.”

The decision to move was in part due to the Pirates passing over him twice when they needed to recall a first baseman to fill in for the perpetually-injured Colin Moran. But a nice rebound stint with Triple-A Indianapolis likely inspired the need for change as well. Through 18 games at the big-league level this season, Craig was slashing .217/.277/.300 with just 13 hits, three RBI and 22 strikeouts. That improved to .287/.367/.549 with 35 hits and 23 RBI in Indy.

Putting even more space between himself and the blooper reel-worthy infield play seemed like the logical next step.

"It will hang over my head for the rest of my career. But I want to give myself an opportunity to break away from it for a little bit," Craig continued."I feel like most players always have a play or some type of event that happens in their career. Mine just happens to be a little bit bigger than others."

The plan now is to finish out the season in the KBO with the chance to return to the MLB on a new team -- and more opportunities to get away from the Baez play.

“I’ll still be a free agent in October or whenever,” Craig said of a potential return. “This kind of helps me get my feet wet with something a little bit different.”