Pirates' Craig: I'll be on blooper reel for 'rest of my life'

Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Will Craig won't easily forget Thursday's defensive mishap against the Chicago Cubs and hopes to learn something from it.

"Last night was tough," Craig said Friday, according to 93.7 The Fan's Jeff Hathhorn. "I replayed that 100-plus times in my head. I realized there is more to this game than one little mess-up. Of course, I will be on a blooper reel for the rest of my life, but I have to keep moving forward with it."

He added: "I can't let this one day reflect the rest of my season."

With two outs and a runner on second, Javier Baez stopped halfway up the first baseline on a ground ball before running back toward home plate. Instead of stepping on first base to end the inning, Craig chased Baez to tag him.

In the end, Willson Contreras scored and Baez ended up on second base after a series of mistakes from the Pirates.

"I messed up," Craig said. "I came off the bag and caught the ball. Turned to look at him and saw him bolt towards home. I kind of lost my mind for a second."

He added: "As soon as I released the ball (to home), I was like, 'Oh my gosh, what am I doing.' I know better than that."

Craig, who won a Gold Glove in the minor leagues in 2019, believes his defensive game shouldn't be judged on this single play.

"It's never happened in baseball before so it's one of those things I wasn't expecting," he said. "I take responsibility for it. Got to keep moving forward, can't live in the past."