Former Pirates 1st-round pick Will Craig drops 25 pounds in effort to improve defense

In an effort to prove he could travel all around the field, Will Craig bypassed doing any traveling around the world.

“We were going to plan a trip to somewhere in the Caribbean (over the offseason), but it was right in middle of my (losing-weight) process, so I said ‘I can’t leave,’ ” the former Pittsburgh Pirates first-round pick said Saturday. “So we had to cancel all that stuff. We didn’t take any vacation. My wife wasn’t too happy; she wanted to go some places.”

A doctorate student at Belmont, Mrs. Craig didn’t mind too much. She was supporting Craig’s efforts that helped him lose 25 pounds off his 6-foot-3 frame. Now declaring himself at 220 after his offseason cutting out fast foods and soda and adopting an “intermittent fasting” approach to eating, Craig hopes his new-and-improved body can handle playing any position the Pirates need him to.

Will Craig moved to Triple-A Indianapolis this season where he has 16 home runs — second among all Pirates minor leaguers — with 12 doubles, 45 RBIs and a .258 average in 73 games.https://t.co/WDBRAr8CCM

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) June 28, 2019

Exclusively a first baseman over the prior two-plus seasons in the Pirates’ system, Craig appeared in 13 games as a right fielder last season.

“Last year, playing right field three or four days in a row, at last year’s weight it kind of wore me down,” Craig said. “This year, I know if they will want me to do that — I know with the new regime they may not want to, but from what I heard there’s a chance I could still try — so I wanted to give myself the best chance to do it and try to get down in weight and move a little bit better and be able to sustain it a little longer.”

With Josh Bell blocking Craig at first base, the quickest path to the majors for the No. 22 overall pick in the 2016 draft is probably at a different position. Craig said he took some groundballs at third base last season, too. But showing ability to add right field to his first base bona fides is probably Craig’s most likely route to the roster.

Craig hit 43 home runs in fewer than 1,000 at-bats over the past two seasons in Double-A and Triple-A.

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