PITTSBURGH -- Konnor Griffin received word on Monday night that he’d be making history on Tuesday. When Pirates manager Don Kelly set the lineup for the second game of a four-game series against the Cubs, the 20-year-old Griffin’s name sat at the top.
Griffin, who became the youngest Pirates player to bat leadoff since Bobby Del Greco in 1952, had batted in five spots in the order through his first 47 career games, ranging from second to eighth. In his first MLB game in the leadoff spot, Griffin scorched a single to left field and scored two runs to help Pittsburgh to a 12-1 win over Chicago.
“I felt good. It was cool to be back up there at the top,” Griffin said.
Griffin, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, had experience batting first in high school and the Minor Leagues, so he said it felt pretty normal to make a return. Kelly said pregame that he tried Griffin in the leadoff spot due to the matchup with left-handed starter Jordan Wicks. The manager is trying to “challenge him in different ways.”
Nick Gonzales has previously slotted into the leadoff spot against lefties this season, but Kelly saw an opportunity for production from the middle of the order from the infielder and added ability for Griffin to cause havoc on the basepaths out of the leadoff spot.
Griffin did just that.
After walking on four pitches in the bottom of the first, Griffin tested the arm of NL Gold Glover Pete Crow-Armstrong on a soft single to center field by Brandon Lowe. Griffin forced an errant throw as he made it safely to third, and Lowe advanced to second. Pittsburgh went on to score five runs in the frame. Kelly said he thought Griffin’s aggressiveness set the tone for the rest of the game.
Griffin added that he understands the whole point of the move was to get him on base for power bats to drive him in. One of those bats was Gonzales, who drove in a run and tallied two hits. A former top pick himself (No. 7 overall in 2020), Gonzales said he’s extremely impressed with how quickly Griffin has processed the game at the big league level. To Gonzales, it’s what the Pirates “need.”
“He can just impact the game on so many levels: with his legs, with his bat, on the basepaths,” Gonzales said. “He causes chaos. He speeds people up right from the jump, so I think that's a great attribute for us.”
Griffin added to the chaos in the bottom of the sixth inning with the Pirates already well on their way to a victory. With Pittsburgh up, 8-1, Griffin singled, then reached second on a fielder’s choice from Lowe.
Bryan Reynolds hit a routine grounder to third baseman Alex Bregman, whose low throw slipped under the glove of first baseman Michael Busch. Griffin, who paused with the ball in front of him, took off. He stumbled around third base, and slid headfirst into home to tack on another run.
“He's electric,” Kelly said. “And when we can get Konnor on and [Oneil] Cruz, and we've got a lot of guys that can run well, but Konnor is fun to watch on the bases, for sure.”
Griffin is batting .261 with a .704 OPS in his age-20 season. He’s also stolen 12 bases, second on the Pirates behind Cruz's 17. Griffin’s sprint speed ranks in the 98th percentile among Major Leaguers, per Baseball Savant, while his baserunning run value is also in the 98th percentile.
Griffin was the seventh player to bat in the leadoff spot for Pittsburgh this season. He’s the youngest to bat leadoff in MLB since Milwaukee's Jackson Chourio in 2024, who was 20 years and 32 days old when he did it two seasons ago -- Griffin's exact age on Tuesday.
“You try to put together good at-bats and get on base, and I did it a few times last year in the Minor Leagues, so it wasn't brand-new, but pretty cool here at the big league level to do that,” Griffin said.