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.
Widely considered a five-tool player, Konnor 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.
Konnor Griffin coverage:
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• Everything to know about Griffin | By the numbers
• How does Griffin stack up to all-time great prospects?
• Griffin's unique connection to Hall of Famer Mazeroski
• Best No. 1 prospects in MLB ranked
• Most anticipated debuts in baseball history
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.
Griffin batted seventh and started at short for the Bucs. 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 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.