Konnor Griffin’s rookie season with the Pirates was one that had plenty of promise and adversity.
Griffin made his MLB debut at 19 years old in the home opener at PNC Park and electrified the crowd with an RBI double in his first at-bat in a 5-4 win over the Orioles.
Shortly after his first game, Griffin inked a franchise-record nine-year extension that will keep in Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future.
But while Griffin had highs plenty of rookies don’t get to experience, he also faced his share of challenges. The most notable obstacles Griffin had to deal with were two stints on the injured list – one for an elbow injury that sidelined him for most of June and a finger injury that cost him most of July and all of August.
“It’s been a crazy year, but definitely learned a lot,” Griffin said following Sunday’s season finale in Detroit.
Once Griffin returned to the field in early September, he displayed the immeasurable talent that made him the game’s top prospect to start the season.
The 20-year-old capped off his rookie campaign by helping lead the Pirates to their first winning season in eight years. Griffin hit a leadoff home run as part of a two-hit, two-RBI performance in a 4-2 win over the Tigers on Sunday.
“I wanted to come back and finish strong, finish the right way, be a part of the fight,” Griffin said after the win. “I’m proud of the way I was able to get out of the hole I was in with the injuries and be able to come back and just keep getting as comfortable as I could. I feel like I ended in a good spot.”
Griffin totaled 80 games in his first major league season and batted .272/.324/.404 with 15 doubles, four triples, six home runs, 33 RBI and 23 stolen bases.
The Pirates shortstop got stronger as the year went on. Dating back to his 20th birthday on April 24, Griffin slashed .297/.346/.447 with all six of his home runs, 25 RBI and 19 steals in 61 games.
Although the turnaround began the day he exited his teens, Griffin thinks there could be another reason he got better as the year went on.
“Early in the year, I was just trying to do as much as I could before the games to be as prepared as I could be,” Griffin said of his workload. “Sometimes, you’ve got to manage the workload, just get the ground balls I need, not take 200 swings a day. Take 30, 40, and then be ready to rock.”
During Griffin’s exit interview with reporters on Sunday, most of his biggest takeaways from the year and looking ahead into the future involved the team’s performance, rather than his own.
Griffin felt it was important that the team finished above .500 but was disappointed he isn’t competing in the playoffs. The rookie turned to the importance of early-season games having an impact on the standings at the end of the year.
“Early games in the year matter a lot,” he explained. “We’ve really got to take care of business off the jump next year. I think we kind of put ourselves in a hole where we could have been better sitting in the playoff race than we were, trying to just make the last wild card. That’s not our standard. We should shoot to be top in our division.”
Once the Pirates were eliminated from contention on Sep. 18, Griffin and his team kept fighting. Finishing the way the Pirates did, Griffin feels, could serve as momentum heading into next season.
“We all know the goal was to be in the playoffs, and once that was done, we weren’t just going to give up,” he explained. “We knew that we could set the tone going into next spring training with being over .500. Being able to get that done, that was big for us. We’re just ready to get home and rest up and get ready to roll next year.”
Everyone in the clubhouse feels the Pirates have a strong foundation in place for 2027, and Griffin is no different.
The biggest question surrounding Pittsburgh this offseason is whether or not impending free agent Brandon Lowe will return. Griffin wants his double play partner back on the roster next year. But even if the veteran Lowe signs with another team, Griffin is still optimistic about his team’s chances to end an 11-year-playoff drought.
“I feel like we know what this year was like,” said Griffin. “We may have some veteran guys leaving or not leaving. We don’t know yet. But we know the culture and what needs to be done for next year. I think it’s going to be a good run for us.”
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