Pirates Minor League Report: Konnor Griffin’s Five-Extra Base Hit Weekend

Former Pirates first round picks caught fire at the plate last week, with Termarr Johnson (2022) putting together a seven game hitting streak and Konnor Griffin (2024) showing out for the weekend crowds with three doubles and two home runs.

Griffin continued a strong start to his professional career, hitting a two-run homer on April 25 before picking up six hits over the next two days: a homer and two singles on Saturday, April 26, and three doubles on Sunday.

Johnson, meanwhile, set the tone early, hitting his first of two home runs on the week during Altoona’s series opener on Tuesday, April 22. He reached base twice on three of the next five days, including two two hit games, and hit another home run on Friday, April 25.

Other Pirates prospects to enjoy strong days at the plate include Esmerlyn Valdez, who homered for Greensboro on April 22 and has a 1.059 OPS to begin the season; Javier Rivas, who hit two homers for the Grasshoppers the following day, and Jase Bowen, who doubled and homered for Altoona on April 27.

On the mound, Hunter Barco pushed his scoreless streak to start the season to 23.2 innings, fanning eight batters over 4.2 frames on April 22. He then struck out eight more in just three innings on April 27.

Wilber Dotel struck out eight across five scoreless frames on Wednesday, April 23, while Bubba Chandler and Hung-Leng Chang each contributed five innings of one-hit ball, striking out four and nine for Indianapolis and Greensboro, respectively,

It wasn’t all fun and games for pitching prospects, however, as Thomas Harrington and Braxton Ashcraft each got roughed up, allowing five runs across four and five innings, respectively.