‘Difference-maker’ Konnor Griffin, 19, stars with bat, glove in Pirates debut
PITTSBURGH — All of the feelings have been there, from pleasure to jitters and all the pieces in between.
Well, nearly all the pieces.
The one factor Konnor Griffin did not really feel when the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop, who is nineteen years, 344 days outdated, ready for his huge league debut Friday towards the Baltimore Orioles it was shock.
“I’m ready for this,” Griffin stated just a few hours earlier than stepping onto the sector at PNC Park as a serious leaguer for the primary time.
It definitely seems that approach.
All of Griffin’s appreciable bodily items have been on show over 2 hours, 44 minutes in a 5-4 victory over the Orioles.
There was the tidy double play he turned in the second inning. There was the 105 mph rope he hit to the wall in heart area in his first at-bat a couple of minutes later towards Baltimore’s Kyle Bradish that scored Ryan O’Hearn and despatched a jolt by way of a sellout crowd.
There was his blistering sprint from second to dwelling on an ensuing floor ball to proper area by teammate Jared Triolo. There was the arrogance to efficiently problem a strike name in his third at-bat. There was the composure to assemble a chopper he briefly bobbled earlier than firing to first for an out to finish the eighth inning.
It was all a part of what Griffin referred to as “hands down one of the best days of my life” and what everybody concerned with the group hopes is the beginning of a protracted, profitable run for a franchise that hasn’t reached the postseason in over a decade.
“He’s a difference-maker. It was very apparent today,” stated Pirates ace and reigning National League Cy Young winner Paul Skeneswho is aware of about getting into the majors with outsized expectations.
Just 628 days after Pittsburgh chosen him with the ninth decide in the 2024 beginner draft, the athletic and mustachioed 6-foot-3 Griffin discovered a No. 6 jersey hanging in his locker at PNC Park and his identify penciled in the seventh spot in the lineup towards the Orioles. He is the primary teenage place participant to achieve the majors since Juan Soto did it with the Washington Nationals in 2018.
On the floor, it appears quick. Not for Griffin, who checked each field — and shortly — whereas sprinting by way of the Pirates’ system. The closing steps came to visit the previous week when he hit .438 in a handful of video games for Triple-A Indianapolis.
All of which made for a full-circle second when Griffin turned the youngest Pirates participant to get successful in his first recreation since Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski did it July 7, 1956. The membership honored Mazeroski, who died in February at 89, by having “Maz” painted into the outfield grass behind second base, not removed from the place Griffin — who was scouted and signed by Mazeroski’s son Darren — went to work on a heat spring afternoon that had a decidedly early fall playoff-like vibe.
“Darren is the reason I’m here,” Griffin stated. “He believed in me and took a chance on me. That’s pretty special right there, and I’m going to cherish that a long time.”
Griffin’s call-up got here lower than two weeks after he was one of many final cuts throughout spring coaching, the place he mashed three homers however hit .171. Rather than sulk, he headed to Triple-A and made the mandatory changes — making an attempt to get again to treating his job like a recreation of whiffle ball again dwelling in Mississippi — to get a name that has lengthy felt inevitable.
“He just went right down and hit his stride and was able to reset in a couple of days,” Pirates supervisor Don Kelly stated. “Which again, for anybody, is really impressive, especially for a 19-year-old kid whose hopes and dreams were to make the big leagues.”
Those goals turned actuality when Indianapolis supervisor Eric Patterson referred to as Griffin to his lodge room early Thursday and instructed him he was heading to The Show.
The subsequent 24 hours have been a blur.
From the brief drive from Columbus to Pittsburgh to the scramble for a minimum of 40 family and friends members to make it to the ballpark that is tucked laborious towards the Allegheny River in time for Friday’s first pitch.
Griffin is the newest in a string of high-profile arrivals in Pittsburgh, from Skenes to rookie right-hander Bubba Chandler catcher Henry Davis.
The future that has been talked about since basic supervisor Ben Cherington was employed in late 2019 is lastly arriving. Perhaps it is telling of how far the membership has come that Griffin is becoming a member of a roster that has undergone a big improve in current months, with the additions of All-Star second baseman Brandon LoweAll-Star first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn and veteran designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.
A yr in the past, followers chanted for proprietor Bob Nutting to promote the membership in the course of the dwelling opener. Those calls have light, changed by one thing seemingly as uncommon: optimism for a workforce that hasn’t gained a playoff sequence for the reason that 1979 World Series.
“This team is loaded,” Griffin stated. “I get to come in here and just be a piece of this puzzle.”
Perhaps a really huge piece. For a really very long time. The Pirates and Griffin have engaged in talks a few contract extension that may preserve him with the membership for many of the subsequent decade.
Griffin demurred when requested about it Friday, though he made his intentions clear.
“All I’m going to say is I want to be a Pirate for a long time,” he stated. “This is a special place, and I’m grateful to be here.”
