Craig leaves Pirates to sign with Heroes in Korea

Will Craig’s time as a Pirate has come to an end.

As first reported by Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News, Craig is signing with the Kiwoom Heroes of the Korean Baseball Organization. He will earn $371,000 through the rest of the season.

During his radio show Sunday, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said that Craig was exploring an opportunity to play in Asia. Craig was a late scratch from the Class AAA Indianapolis Indians’ lineup Saturday, and he had not played since.

Craig was selected by the Pirates in the first-round of the 2016 draft, but played only 20 major league games over two seasons. Most of those came this season, where he slashed .217/.277/.300 with home run and three RBIS over 65 plate appearances while Colin Moran and Phillip Evans were on the injured list.

Moran, Evans and utilityman Erik Gonzalez were placed on the injured list recently, but rather than promote Craig again, the Pirates traded for first baseman John Nogowski of the Cardinals.

In Indianapolis, Craig hit .287/.367/.549 with eight home runs and 23 RBIs and was on a recent hot streak.

Craig was designated for assignment by the Pirates this offseason and in June, and passed through waivers both times.

The most memorable moment from his time in the majors was in the field, though.

Playing against the Cubs on May 27. After a throw took off the first base bag, Craig opted to try to chase down Cubs infielder Javier Baez, who was jogging back to the plate, rather than touch first base for the force and to end the inning. He flipped the ball to catcher Michael Pérez at the plate, and Baez was able to beat the throw down the line, resulting in the deciding runs in a loss.

The Heroes were the Korean team for former Pirate Jung-Ho Kang.

Indianapolis will begin a 12-game homestand Tuesday.