Konnor Griffin Continuing to Provide Wow Factor; Already Player of the Week

It didn’t take long for Konnor Griffin to start getting a lot of attention. Most first-round draft picks do.

The Pirates selected Griffin with the ninth pick in last year’s draft out of high school in Flowood, Miss – the first prep player taken in 2024.

Griffin participated in his first spring training this year with the Pirates, and it didn’t take long for him to catch the eye of now-Pirates manager Don Kelly.

“Wow. You talk about a tremendous person, athlete, just the whole package,” Kelly said on Griffin. “The way that he went after it as an 18-year-old, he did not seem 18 to me when he was walking around and the way he handled himself. Then you see the talent on the field, the way he runs, throws, hits.”

Griffin, who turned 19 years old in April, is mature well beyond his years. He stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 225 pounds and has plus tools across the board.

Griffin started his professional career this season with the Low-A Bradenton Marauders and was off to a torrid start. In 50 games with Bradenton, the right-handed hitter slashed .338/.396/.536 with 10 doubles, two triples, nine home runs, 36 RBI and 26 steals.

The Pirates recently promoted Griffin to High-A Greensboro, where he’s continued to shine.

He’s played in six games with the Grasshoppers so far and is 11 for 27 with four doubles, two home runs and eighth RBI. He’s already swiped six bases and has scored 10 runs. 

In his first week playing for Greensboro, Griffin was named the South Atlantic League Player of the Week. Talk about good first impressions.

“Just the season that he’s had so far, really excited [for him] to take that next step and continue to work his way up here,” said Kelly. 

Griffin was recently ranked as the game’s 27th-best prospect according to Baseball America’s updated top 100. It’s easy to see the appeal. 

The 19-year-old possesses everything you would want in a top prospect. He’s a plus-plus runner with a plus-plus arm who is capable of playing two premium positions in shortstop and center field. He has plus-power who has improved on a hit tool that was considered his weakest trait. 

Though the Pirates were relatively aggressive in promoting him to Greensboro, it will still probably be a couple years before he reaches Pittsburgh.

But if he keeps up his performance, that day could come sooner than originally expected for a player drafted out of high school.

Until then, Griffin is far and away the top position player in the Pirates’ organization, a minor-league system desperately in need of upside in that area.

The Pirates have a solid track record of developing pitching in recent years, but they haven’t had the same success with hitters. 

Given what he’s shown so far, it’s hard to understand how Konnor Griffin fell all the way to the ninth pick last year, but the Pirates are better off because of it.