Griffin helps Pirates raise Jolly Roger with RBI double in 1st career AB

PITTSBURGH -- It took just five pitches for baseball’s most highly touted prospect to make an impact at the plate as he debuted Friday afternoon in the Pirates' home opener against Baltimore.

Batting seventh and starting at short in front of a sellout crowd of 38,986 at PNC Park, Konnor Griffin provided the highlight moment of the Bucs' 5-4 win when he smashed an RBI double in the first at-bat of his Major League career, opening the scoring in his club's four-run second inning.

• 19-year-old Griffin realizes MLB dream with Pirates debut

Widely considered a five-tool player, Griffin slashed .438/.571/.625 in his five games this season with Triple-A Indianapolis before getting the callup to the big leagues. In 122 games last year, he hit .333 with 21 home runs, 94 RBIs and 65 stolen bases en route to being named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year. The shortstop was the ninth overall selection in the 2024 MLB Draft.

Griffin, who doesn't turn 20 years old until April 24, is the first teenaged position player in MLB since Juan Soto debuted with Washington in 2018. He’s also the first teenager to debut for Pittsburgh since Aramis Ramirez in 1998.

Here's a breakdown of his MLB debut, at-bat by at-bat:

FIRST AT-BAT, SECOND INNING

In his first Major League at-bat, Griffin sat on a 1-2 curveball thrown by Orioles starter Kyle Bradish, before hammering the pitch into the left-center field gap at 105.8 mph off the bat, per Statcast. Griffin came around to score two pitches later on a single to right field by Jared Triolo.

After Ryan O’Hearn led off the inning with a walk, Griffin’s double sparked a four-run second inning to give Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller a 4-0 lead to work with. After Triolo’s run-scoring hit, Henry Davis and Oneil Cruz both tallied RBIs in the frame.

The double made Griffin the first teenager with a hit in his MLB debut since Jurickson Profar homered for Texas in September 2012.

SECOND AT-BAT, FOURTH INNING

Griffin reached base for the second time when he led off the fourth inning with a five-pitch walk. He advanced to second base on another single to right by Triolo, but he was later forced out at third after Davis grounded into a double play.

At 19 years and 344 days, Griffin is the youngest player with a walk in his MLB debut since the Pirates' Ramirez on May 26, 1998; he was 19 years and 335 days old. Griffin is also the fourth teenager with a walk and an RBI in his debut (since RBIs became official in 1920), joining John Paciorek and Rusty Staub in 1963 and Johnny Callison in 1958.

THIRD AT-BAT, FIFTH INNING

Batting with runners at first and second and two outs, Griffin was retired for the first time after a strikeout ended the bottom of the fifth inning. Despite striking out, Griffin showed impressive plate discipline and patience, having a punchout overturned two pitches earlier after his first successful ABS challenge.

Through his first three at-bats of the game, Griffin saw a total of 17 pitches.

FOURTH AT-BAT, EIGHTH INNING

Baltimore reliever Rico Garcia got Griffin to ground the ball back to him on a check-swing in the rookie’s final plate appearance of the game. Griffin finished the game 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and a run scored.