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Pirates manager Derek Shelton stands in the dugout during a baseball game against the Cleveland Indians in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020.
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Derek Shelton: ‘There was no discussion of us not playing’

AP

Derek Shelton: ‘There was no discussion of us not playing’

After a handful of MLB teams decided to postpone their games Wednesday out of protest and to draw attention to social injustice and systemic racism, manager Derek Shelton said the Pirates never seriously considered anything of the sort before their doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on Thursday.

“There was no discussion of us not playing,” Shelton said. “I did have discussions with individual players about their thoughts and continuing to be mindful of what’s going on. But there was no discussion of us not playing.”

There were a half-dozen games postponed on Thursday, while Pittsburgh’s weekend opponent, the Milwaukee Brewers, agreed in conjunction with the Reds to postpone their game Wednesday night to draw attention to the cause and instead play a doubleheader on Thursday.

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Shelton declined to reveal specifics of individual conversations he had with any of players, preferring to keep them private.

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“I will not discuss any personal conversations that I had with our players regarding this,” Shelton said. “Those conversations are between us."

Will Craig to debut

At long last, the time has come for Will Craig, the Pirates’ first-round pick from 2016. Craig was called up Thursday after the Pirates placed Colin Moran on the seven-day concussion list, and he started at first base against the Cardinals.

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Craig, 25, hit a career-high 23 home runs in 2019 and led the Eastern League with 102 RBIs while playing for Class AA Altoona in 2018.

He’s also an excellent fielder at first base, having won a minor league Gold Glove there with Class AAA Indianapolis in 2019.

Despite hitting 43 home runs and driving in 180 runs over the previous two years, the Pirates haven't talked much about Craig, who had a quiet spring at the plate. But with the injury to Moran, he's now going to get his first chance to show what he can do.

“I just called him in [Thursday] morning and checked on him to see where he was at,” Shelton explained. “I think my exact words were, ‘Hey, you want to play in a big league game?’ Big smile came across his face. It’s one of the cool things you can do in this job when you’re telling guys they’re making their major league debut.

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“Hasn’t been a ton of time, but really there’s not a ton of things he needs to hear from me. He’s going to go out and play first. Hopefully have a great game.”

How the Pirates split the reps at first base could be something interesting to watch, as they will likely look to make some sort of evaluation on Craig.

The Pirates had been rotating Josh Bell and Moran, with Jose Osuna also getting an occasional start at first.

Shelton said it was a little premature to come up with any sort of definitive plans for a rotation at first base, although he suspects that Craig, a righty, might get a shot against left-handed pitching.

“I don't know how that's going to play out, with JB being over there and what else we do with our lineups,” Shelton said. “I think he'll get an opportunity against a couple left-handers. In terms of how much he is going to play going forward, not ready to discuss it."

As for who isn’t coming up, many have been wondering about Ke’Bryan Hayes, their third baseman of the future. Hayes has not been up and hasn’t even been in consideration for the taxi squad, Shelton said Tuesday.

Moran, don’t forget, started the season as a third baseman, although those reps have gone more to Phillip Evans, Erik Gonzalez and JT Riddle. Hayes also got a late start to the season because he had to quarantine for nearly three weeks after contracting COVID-19.

"I think it was a situation where we wanted to get a look at Will and see how it was going to go,” Shelton said. “And obviously, at some point, Ke'Bryan is going to be here. I understand that people are excited about him. I think that's real, but we're going to get a chance to see what Will Craig has.”

Pirates claim OF Anthony Alford off waivers

The Pirates remained active on the waiver wire Thursday, this time claiming outfielder Anthony Alford after he was designated for assignment by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Alford was selected in the third round of the 2012 MLB draft, and after a strong 2017 season in the minor leagues, he shot up prospect rankings. According to Baseball America, entering the 2018 season, he was the Blue Jays' third-best prospect, and the 47th-best in baseball.

He struggled upon reaching the majors, though, hitting just .155 in 46 games over the last four seasons. Alford joins pitchers Nick Tropeano and Carson Fulmer as waiver wire pickups the Pirates have made this month alone.

Mike Persak contributed to this article.

Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.

First Published: August 27, 2020, 7:28 p.m.

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Pirates manager Derek Shelton stands in the dugout during a baseball game against the Cleveland Indians in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020.  (AP)
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