Ralph Medlin
Well-known member
A well timed decent flip to the catcher gets the runner going home but Craig fucked that up too
Will Craig just made one of the worst defensive plays ever.
the best part of that sequence is Baez doing the safe signal and then realizing he's still in the middle of the play hahhaaa.
I have a tough time blaming the 2B and RF for not being on their horse to make a play they’ve never in their lives had to make. They had to be thinking, “Fuck. Well at least he’ll tag Baez and we’ll get out of the inning.”
One can see Craig’s lack of athleticism on both the pickoff and the ground ball. Pickoff was a bad throw by pitcher and having a RH first baseman makes it a very hard play to make, one that Craig isn’t capable of making. The ground ball shows his lack of range and first step quickness/reaction to the ball.
Jesus Christ. I realize you hate anything Wake baseball related, but lay off Craig. He won the Triple-A Gold Glove for 1B in 2019. He committed one error in 992 innings for a .999 fielding percentage. He made a dumbass play yesterday, but he’s not “incapable” of making simple plays, he just had a tough game.
The crazier thing is, even with the long time lapse that run still wouldn't have counted if they got it together and got the force out at first before Baez made it all the way back there.
I honestly think the second baseman should get a massive amount of the blame as well. Once Craig starts jogging home, it is his job to be the next in line at first base in the pickle. If he is standing on the base, the catcher throws it to him and Baez is out by 80 feet and the run does not count. I don't know if they practice pickles in the majors, but every kid has run that play a hundred times, albeit not usually between home and first.
Someone off line just posed a great thought....
Up until this, he thought it was illegal for a batter-runner to stop and backup en route to 1B since he has nowhere else to legally go. Frankly I thought so too
It would be illegal to tag home but I don’t know why it would be illegal to not run to 1st.
The Pirates DFA'd Will Craig. This means that they have 7 days to trade him or he will be exposed to waivers. If Craig isn't traded or picked up by another team, the Pirates can reassign him to AAA.