Earlier this month, Jeff Passan said the Pirates were considering giving Konnor Griffin the starting shortstop job out of spring training. If he didn’t say that, I wouldn’t even have wrote this post, because Griffin is 19 and only reached Double-A. So, now I think Griffin has a real chance of breaking camp? No, it’s total nonsense. It’s such nonsense that nonsense filed a trademark infringement case for it not being labeled nonsense and paying nonsense a nickel for the rights to nonsense. “It wasn’t labeled nonsense, but, in the spirit and essence, that was pure nonsense. No one’s heard such nonsense before without paying nonsense a nickel for being nonsense.” You know, the usual legal who’s-what’s-its. I say this is nonsense, because do you remember Paul Skenes’s rookie year? He didn’t need time in the minor leagues at all, but, sure, give him one year in the minors just to make sure things are copacetic. He needed to start the 2nd year in the minors? Come on, man! How many times are we going to fall for the banana in the ol’ tailpipe? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me every single year by holding down prospects who are ready, shame on me and you. You’re still shameful in this. I’m not saying the Pirates are right to be doing this, but they’re absolutely doing it. So, what can we expect from Konnor Griffin for 2026 fantasy baseball?
Intro Paragraph Decoder, “So, you don’t think Griffin will break camp, but you’re here writing this for 2026?” Yeah, IPD, because Konnor Griffin is that special. “We’re not ‘initial familiar.'” Last year, Konnor Griffin went 21/65/.333 in three stops of the minors (Single, High and Double-A). That’s ludi. As a 19-year-old! He might be Ronald Acuña Jr. pre-seventeen knee jankies. He might be Mike Trout pre-thirty-four back jankies. Konnor Griffin, can you pitch? Because Imma about to compare you to Ohtani. This guy is unreal. That’s why we’re here. I rank 500 guys in the preseason, and Konnor Griffin will be inside the top 500, because, if you’re in a league that drafts that many players, you should draft him, just on an outside chance he’s up early. (Speaking of my rankings, sleepers start on Monday here and my rankings will start rolling out on Patreon on Monday.) Okay, how about a looksie or two:
MLB’s No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin (@Pirates) homers for the @AltoonaCurve to continue his tear at Double-A:
11 G
3 HR
16 RBI
.971 OPS pic.twitter.com/ylVYxM4Wfl— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 31, 2025
And:
“That was a big league home run!”
MLB’s No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin joins Jonatan Clase (2023) as just the second Minor Leaguer with 20+ homers and 60+ stolen bases in a single season since 2005.@Pirates | @YoungBucsPIT | @AltoonaCurve pic.twitter.com/ILhNd8DCtY
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 6, 2025
Jonatan Clase! There’s a name you don’t hear every day.
Konnor Griffin is about as perfect as they come: HardHit Launch Angle 9; 107.6 MPH 90th percentile EV, average is 102.4 in minors; average EV is 90.7 MPH, 25% Chase, MiLB average was 27; once again he was 19. He strikes out around 23% of the time. I know I was giving the Pirates crap about not really being serious about giving him a chance, but I would like to see how he does against better competition too. Of course, one can see that at Spring Training, and I would absolutely let him sink or swim in the majors from Opening Day on, expecting him to swim me all the way to the bank as he goes 20/40/.260 his rookie year! I’m the mother-effing Gingerbread Man on the back of Griffin as he swims! Is that realistic? No, it’s not. Sigh. He’ll be a fun call-up when it happens in August is my guess, but is also worth a late flyer in deep leagues, just in case we’re all shocked. For 2026, I’ll give Konnor Griffin projections of 16/3/18/.267/9 in 124 ABs with a chance for much, much more.
With Skene’s making some “please compete” pleas in the not too distant pass it’s makes one wonder how quickly he could be called up. Super deuce barrier at the latest.
June/July
Btw looking forward to a Kevin McGonigle post (hoping one is coming)!
Nope, rookie series is done
No quote by Itch seems like a bad sign. I mean, good for your health.
iIRC, he’s not as high on him compared to some other industry guys, I think mostly bc of the wasteland that is around Griffin
Ah gotcha
Hahah
Hahaha : ) Grey can pop me in the nose if Griffin breaks camp.
It’d be worth it.
I agree with everything Grey says here. This guy is awesome. The best hitting prospect Pittsburgh has had since . . . well I don’t want to say the word Bonds because why would you put that in the newspaper? But yeah, he’s unique. Good enough to open the season with the team. If I were them, I’d be backing up the Brinks truck. Let’s talk. I mean Bobby Witt had no real reason to lock it in. It makes sense to ask.
Bam!
I really want to see Griffin, but there’s no chance it’s happening this year unless it’s just for a quick cup of coffee. No matter how well he plays, I honestly think hell would freeze over before we see him break camp or show up in April.
Remember last year when Jones got hurt? They didn’t have a true fifth starter until basically June. What did they do? Ran a reliever (Mlodzinski) out there every fifth day for weeks, then waited until late May to bring up Burrows. Meanwhile, they let Chandler rot in the minors and eventually got into his head and messed with his confidence.
They were also perfectly fine with trotting out IKF as their starting SS. But no, this is the year they’re finally gonna spend big in free agency. Sure, Bob
My image didn’t upload on first post…
Haha nice
Yeah, I tend to agree with you until they prove us wrong
Yeah, it is so frustrating. We will see if something in the new CBA discourages behavior that is bad for the sport. I am so fed up with it. Sadly, I’ve been a pirates fan for a long time.
Yeah, they should’ve done something last year when they only signed Tommy Pham…Not sure why Nutting would change now
Please trade Keller, and buy some talent! Fantastic starting pitching and no hitting.
Yes, that’ll work too!
Hey Grey, happy day after Thanksgiving! Yeah, Pirates gonna Pirate… but they should absolutely get Griffin up to the bigs as soon as they can.
Happy Thanksgiving! Yeah, that’s my fear
The grand finale, just as I hoped.
With the CBA expiring this may be the last year of the PPI. (Yes, I had to look up the Prospect Promotion Incentive.). The Pirates missed the extra draft pick by promoting Skenes too late. Then they lost out on another pick and lost a year of control when Skenes finished third in Cy Young. It was Pirate squandering of opportunity on many levels. Maybe they’ve learned. Maybe even the most abysmally managed franchise in the history of professional sport will rally to the momebt, summon a modicum of common sense and let Griffin compete for ROY while reaping draft reward.
I hope so, Chris, I really do
It feels like they didn’t read the fine print on those rules. It’s not just about the one season. If you have an elite player, you’ll get rewarded for letting him break camp.
Haha yup