Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin continues to dominate after promotion to Greensboro

Deep down, every professional baseball player knows the exact moment or level of competition when he was humbled by the game.

Plenty of prospects have careers that fizzle out before even reaching the big leagues, with Triple-A or Double-A proving to be the ceiling for their aspirations.

For those who do persevere to become big-leaguers, few, if any, avoid the realization, whether it comes defensively, on the mound or in the batter’s box, that the game is bigger than they are.

Broadly speaking, Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Konnor Griffin has yet to have that experience.

As of Tuesday, the Pirates’ first-round draft pick in 2024 (No. 9 overall) has spent a week at High-A Greensboro, with his promotion from Low-A Bradenton coming June 10 after a torrid 50-game stint with the Marauders, over which he slashed .338/.396/.536.

“We’re really, really excited and think he’s just scratching the surface,” assistant general manager Steve Sanders said on 93.7 FM of Griffin, who’s batting .407 to begin his career with the Grasshoppers.

A 6-foot-4, 19-year-old shortstop, Griffin ranks as the Pirates’ No. 2 overall prospect, per MLB Pipeline, behind only right-hander Bubba Chandler.

Griffin has an expected MLB debut of 2028, and plenty of question marks remain about his overall viability given he has yet to be challenged at the Double-A level and above.

Yet, what Griffin has done 56 games into his first season as a professional has been highly encouraging to Pirates management.

“It’s hard to describe just how rapidly we’re seeing Konnor evolve, improve and make adjustments, which I think is just a testament to who he is and what type of athlete he is,” Sanders said. “It’s been dynamic on both sides of the ball. He’s been able to impact the game in so many ways on the basepaths, at shortstop, in the batter’s box.

“Most importantly, he’s tackled whatever the challenge is in front of him. We’ve seen a really, really quick adjustment and response to the different challenges that pro ball has thrown at him. Very, very exciting.”

With Bradenton, Griffin clubbed 11 homers with 14 doubles, a pair of triples and 44 RBIs.

He produced an OPS of .969 and added 32 stolen bases.

Griffin did post a 23.5% strikeout rate at Low-A (55 punchouts in 234 at-bats), but that seems well below a rate that would set off alarm bells.

Since arriving in Greensboro, Griffin has picked up where he left off with Bradenton.

So far, he’s slashing .407/.469/.778 with a 1.247 OPS, two home runs and eight RBIs in six games.

Konnor Griffin needs to be on a Bobby Witt style fast track to the Pirates.

He has a 1.300 OPS since promotion to High A, after having a .930 OPS in low A
pic.twitter.com/6fwHbgSUnM

— Nutzy (@Nutzypoo_ttv) June 16, 2025

“He’s been doing great,” Sanders said. “He’s carried it over really efficiently from Bradenton, in terms of his surface performance and also just what we’re seeing day-in and day-out from Konnor.”

Griffin’s efforts with the Grasshoppers also earned him South Atlantic League Player of the Week honors Tuesday.

Defensively, Griffin has a fielding percentage of .987, having committed two errors in 321 1/3 innings at shortstop.

He also has been deployed semi-frequently in center field, seeing action in eight games there with the Marauders.

Griffin still has a lot to prove before he can reinforce the Pirates.

Stiffer competition awaits if and when he joins the Altoona Curve and Indianapolis Indians, where the process of proving himself will reset as he advances in the minor leagues.

But a year after the Pirates drafted him, Griffin is exceeding expectations.

“He’s an incredibly hard worker,” Sanders said. “He’s incredibly confident but also very curious and wants to learn from others how to get better. Even the short time we saw him in spring training around the major-league team and camp, he approached that as a learning opportunity.

“He was really focused on the opportunity to be around players who had done it at the highest level before and walked out of there with a lot of experience and exposure that he talked about carrying into his first full pro season. We’re seeing that happen.”