Pirates' Konnor Griffin Impresses In Spring Training Debut
It didn't take long for the Pittsburgh Pirates to see why they took Konnor Griffin in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft.
Griffin did it all for Pittsburgh, as he had the go-ahead RBI single and displayed impressive speed en route to scoring a run in its 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday at LECOM Park in Bradenton, FL. With Griffin giving an intriguing glimpse into the future, Pirates manager Derek Shelton felt his performance showed exactly why they took him with the No. 9 overall pick last year.
"That's an athletic human being right there," Shelton said. "It's really cool to see a guy get his, you know, his first major league spring training hit. I look up on the board and I see 2006 and I think jeez, it makes me feel old. To get the first hit and then go first to third like he did, to see him even call off Gorski on the ball, we saw a culmination of reasons why we took him where we took him. It's fun to see that happen."
Griffin, 18, is the Pirates' No. 2 ranked prospect and the No. 43 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline.
Griffin got his first at-bat in the bottom of the seventh inning with runners on first and second with one out. The 18-year-old prospect smoked one through the right side of the infield to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead that it didn't relinquish for the rest of the game.
Konnor Griffin with an RBI single to give Pittsburgh the lead in his first Spring Training at-bat 👀
— Milb Central (@milb_central) February 23, 2025
pic.twitter.com/ruVQndyY4a
One batter later, the first-round pick showed off his impressive speed, going from first to third on an RBI single by Abrahan Gutierrez.
Konnor Griffin can FLY https://t.co/3YFPWbfgx9 pic.twitter.com/DybJxEvcdY
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) February 23, 2025
Griffin also saw time at shortstop and center field for Pittsburgh. While there's still plenty of time before the Pirates settle on where he'll play long-term, Shelton was impressed with the athleticism he saw from the 6-foot-4 rising prospect.
"You don't see that very often," Shelton said. "I think it speaks to his athleticism. That's a true athlete. An athlete at that size and where he ends up, ultimately, I think that will be decided probably years down the road, maybe two or three years down the road, and maybe he plays both. Who knows, but that's a really good looking young athlete."
