Minor League Baseball

Pittsburgh Pirates' Konnor Griffin Deemed 'High Ceiling, Low Floor' Prospect

According to MLB Pipeline, Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop/center fielder Konnor Griffin has the largest discrepancy between his ceiling and his floor of any Top 100 prospect.

Sam Connon

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin who was the ninth overall pick in first round of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft looks on at the batting cage before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin who was the ninth overall pick in first round of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft looks on at the batting cage before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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The Pittsburgh Pirates may have taken a big risk with their 2024 first round pick.

MLB Pipeline senior writer Jim Callis compiled a mailbag on Friday, fielding a handful of questions about baseball's top prospects ahead of the 2025 campaign. The first topic he tackled was which Top 100 prospects had the largest discrepancy between their floor and their ceiling.

Callis' pick among position players was Konnor Griffin, the No. 2 prospect in the Pirates' farm system.

Griffin, per Callis, has the potential to become a 30-30 hitter with either solid defense at shortstop or elite defense in center field. Callis said Griffin had more upside than anyone else in the 2024 draft class, and Pittsburgh was able to snag him at No. 9 overall.

However, Callis wrote that some clubs had concerns about Griffin's swing and were unsure of whether or not the right-handed hitter will be able to produce against high-quality pitching.

The 18-year-old did not appear in a professional game after securing a $6.5 million signing bonus last summer, so he remains a mystery on that front.

Still, MLB Pipeline had Griffin ranked as the No. 43 prospect in all of baseball in its preseason Top 100. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound teenager is the Pirates' highest-ranked position player, so the organization presumably has a lot riding on his development.

Related MiLB Stories

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  • QUESTIONS AROUND CONDON: The Rockies' top prospect, Charlie Condon, struggled when he turned pro in 2024 and will need to bounce back to keep the hype alive. CLICK HERE
  • ISAAC SUBJECT OF DEBATE: While Xavier Isaac is one of the top prospects in the Rays' farm system, MLB Pipeline's experts are wary of his troublesome strikeout and whiff rates.CLICK HERE

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and other "On SI'' baseball sites. He previously covered UCLA Athletics for “UCLA on SI’’ and won awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for “New England Patriots on SI’’ and was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Follow Sam on Twitter @SamConnon.

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