SARASOTA, Fla. -- Konnor Griffin has certainly looked big league-ready at times in Spring Training.
Of course, he's also still just a 19-year-old prospect.
That’s the important balance the Pirates are keeping in mind as they evaluate the No. 1 overall prospect in baseball. While he’s already put together quite a highlight reel in just a few weeks, he’s still a teenager with plenty to learn.
“Just taking things day by day and showing up laser focused on how I can become a better player,” Griffin said. “It’s pretty easy around these guys. We’re trying to win games every day and it’s fun to go out there and compete. Just continuing to hone down on what I’ve been doing.”
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at what Griffin has already shown this spring -- and what the Pirates are still hoping to see from him.
What Griffin has already shown
The power
Griffin wasted no time showing off this aspect of his game, smashing a pair of homers -- including a 440-foot blast -- on Feb. 24 against the Red Sox -- just his third appearance in Grapefruit League play.
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of that majestic homer over the replica Green Monster was that it came against a 78.8 mph sweeper from Boston’s Seth Martinez. To put that in perspective, Griffin is the only player this spring to hit a ball at least 440 feet off a pitch slower than 80 mph. Only eight players did that all of last season (excluding at-bats against position players) -- a group that included Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Oneil Cruz and Brent Rooker, among others.
Griffin’s homer wasn’t spectacular just for how far it went, but also how hard it came off his bat. At 111.2 mph, it’s the second-hardest-hit ball by any Pirate this spring (Oneil Cruz, 111.4 mph single).
Overall, Griffin had already hit seven balls with an exit velocity of at least 100 mph entering Wednesday, tied for the team lead with Nick Yorke.
The speed
Griffin stole 65 bases in 122 games across three levels of the Minors last season. And while he’s yet to record a stolen base this spring, there’s been no doubts about his speed.
Per Statcast, any sprint speed above 30 feet per second is considered elite. Griffin has already hit that number three times this spring. The only other Pirate to do so even once was Lonnie White Jr.
With three of Griffin’s five hits leaving the yard, he hasn’t had too many opportunities to showcase his baserunning -- but he did get the chance to turn on the jets on Monday night against the Yankees. Griffin went from home to second in just 8.07 seconds on his two-run double in the third inning.
“That was fun getting out of the box quick, trying to get to second and leg out a double,” Griffin said. “It’s good. … Speed is a part of my game and to be able to get a double out of it and score some runs, that was fun.”
What the Pirates still want to see
Consistency
This isn’t to say Griffin has or hasn’t been consistent this spring, it’s just an impossible thing to prove over such an abbreviated sample. Consistency is something the Pirates will be looking for throughout the season -- regardless of whether Griffin breaks camp in the Majors or at Triple-A.
“I think the consistency on a daily basis,” manager Don Kelly said when asked what Griffin’s area of focus should be moving forward. “We talk about process -- at 19 years old, you don’t even know what that is, right? He’s still trying to figure it out; we’re trying to help him figure it out. He’s done a nice job offensively, defensively, running and just continuing to work on what that process is.”
To that point, Kelly commended the way Griffin recently made in-game adjustments to lay off some sliders off the plate after chasing those same pitches earlier in the game. The next step is making that adjustment even quicker.
“He was able to make an adjustment in the middle of a game -- that’s hard to do,” Kelly said. “I think as we start to see him go, he’s going to be able to start to make those adjustments in the middle of at-bats.”
There’s also the consistency on the defensive side.
While there was initially some belief that Griffin could split time between shortstop and center field to start his career, he showed enough in his debut season last year to spend the majority of his time on the dirt. He ultimately made 88 starts at shortstop and just 15 in center.
Though he had some stumbles early in camp -- including a throwing error on a routine play in that two-homer game on Feb. 24 -- Griffin has also flashed his above-average range and his cannon for an arm.
More reps against big league pitching
Again, this is one that can only come with time and experience.
Keep in mind, the one question surrounding Griffin's game when he was selected ninth overall in the 2024 MLB Draft was his hit tool and ability to make consistent contact. He helped silence that narrative by hitting at every stop last season, posting a batting average of at least .325 and an OPS north of .930 at Single-A, High-A and Double-A.
Still, having played only 21 games above High-A -- and none above Double-A -- he hasn’t exactly faced a ton of Major League arm talent to this point.
“The experience getting to face guys like Max Fried, that’s just helping me grow as a player, whether I succeed or not,” Griffin said after going 0-for-2 with a strikeout vs. Fried on Monday. “Just little notes I’m able to take down from a high-level pitcher like that. Just continue to take it to tomorrow, and see how we can attack the next guy I face.”