Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | PIT | 1B | 36 | 35 |
Grades Update: Jan 2021
| OFP | Role | Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | 30 | 40 | 55 | 40 | 60 | 30 |
Jan 2021 Report
Evaluator: Geoff Pontes
Age: 26 yr
Height: 6-3
Weight: 220 lbs
Hits/Throws: R/R
Acquired: 2016 Round 1
RuleV: Eligible
Physical Description: Limited athleticism and physicality, below average fitness level, though conditioning has improved in recent years. Dad body coming off three months of Paleo is how I would describe Craig's shape.
Hit: Sets up slightly open at the plate, with his front foot offset, slight bend in his front knee, with his hips square to the pitcher. Sets his hand by his head, acute leg lift trigger, hands drop in load, and Craig does a good job of tapping into his lower half, but gets handsy at the end of his swing, looking as though he almost pushes the ball off the bat. A swing change heading into 2018 reversed the profile. A level, linear swing path, with a near-zero launch angle was reworked for lowering his hands for a more abrupt upper-cut swing path. In the aftermath Craig's contact and walk rates tanked while his strikeout rate spiked. While his power production jumped the very qualities that made Craig a prospect disappeared. A below average hit tool completely leveraged for launch. Grade: 40
Power: Added loft prior to the 2018 season and dramatically altered his batted ball profile. Heavy flyball focused swing that led to improved game power but increased swing and miss and an elevated number of infield flyballs. The power does play in game at an above average level and his ability to drive the ball to his pull-side has been a welcome addition to his game. Uppercut path more than launch happy, will drive the ball but his top of the scale power isn't quite plus with max exit velocities in the 109 mph range. Above average game power. Grade: 55
Field: Craig is a capable first baseman, with solid actions around the bag and good hands. He lacks much range at the position, and his lack of athleticism will tie him up from time to time, but capable of making the needed plays. Grade: 40
Arm: Strong throwing arm, Craig bounced between the rotation and the bullpen at Wake Forest, accumulating 10 saves and six wins over his three seasons as a two-way star. The arm still plays, unfortunately Craig's lack of athleticism and range moved him to first base permanently where throwing is of lesser importance. Still a strong element of Craig<92>s game and his only plus tool. Grade: 60
Run: Poor runner that is limited on the basepaths, running is not an element of Craig's game. Grade: 30
Overall: At 26 years old, recently waived, and off the Pirates 40 man roster Craig's prospect status, or what remains of it, has dissipated. A former first rounder Craig's struggle to translate his Wake Forest production with aluminum bats - and in Wake Forest's comfy home confines - to any level with wood bats. This trend reared its head during Craig's 2015 summer with Chatham, and remained the refrain during stops in West Virginia and Bradenton in 2016 and 2017. Craig reworked his swing heading into 2018 and rejuvenated his prospect status for a period. In 2019 his production took a downturn in an offensive friendly 2019 AAA environment as he produced below league average results. Without much supporting the profile outside power, Craig will likely struggle to overcome the quad-A/Emergency Depth profile, but there<92>s still a spark, and he did debut in 2020. With Josh Bell on the way out, Craig has a sliver of hope for playing time in 2021, but the lack of a 40 man roster spot is pretty damning.
OFP: 35
Role: 30 - Up/Down Emergency Depth
Risk: Moderate
