ALTOONA, Pa. -- THWACK
As one walks down the corridors of Peoples Natural Gas Field toward the Altoona Curve’s clubhouse, the unmistakable sound of lumber striking baseballs rings down the hall. It’s an indoor cage day on a rainy Thursday afternoon, so plenty of Pirate prospects are going to get swings against the spinball machine.
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Among them is Konnor Griffin, the player who has made the loudest swings in the Pirates’ system -- if not all of baseball -- this year. He also was one of the last to leave the cages on Thursday. The focus this session was on controlling his move forward. He had been really aggressive with that move the past few games, so he worked on different-sized leg kicks to make sure he didn’t get too far ahead.
“If you watch big leaguers, everybody has a small change at some point,” Griffin said in PNG Field’s home dugout. “We’re just continuing to grind and try to grow. That’s what we’ve been doing all year.”
Griffin’s growth this year has been exponential and exceptional. The 19-year-old shortstop started the season with Single-A Bradenton and will wrap it up with Double-A Altoona. He has hit at every stop, combining for a slash line of .330/.415/.524, with 19 home runs, 65 stolen bases and an OPS that has risen with every stop.
Griffin has risen to being the game’s top prospect in the MLB Pipeline rankings, and he is a potential face of the franchise. If nothing else, he’s a face of hope, someone fans have clinged to as a reason why better days are close.
It’s one of the greatest seasons a Pirates prospect has had in years. Griffin is striving for more.
COMPLETE PIRATES PROSPECT COVERAGE
“It may look like it’s been just an unbelievable year, but there’s been so many times where I get beat down, I’m heading back to my apartment wondering what the heck happened,” Griffin said. “There’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that not everybody sees. I may have had a hit in the game, I see the hit, but watching the other three ABs, I’m trying to figure out why I didn’t get four hits that night.
“There’s always a part of me that’s trying to grow, trying to compete.”
Griffin’s game has grown all around. He’s more aggressive on the bases. He has taken strides in the field and is cementing himself as a shortstop. But the most obvious area of improvement has been his bat. Going into last year’s Draft, most scouting reports on Griffin read the same -- tremendous athlete, can run and field, but the bat was a concern.
Griffin’s response? Let’s get into the lab and work.
“I knew what I had in me. I knew the athlete I could become,” Griffin said. “I just put my head down, kind of went quiet during the offseason and went to work.”
Sitting in the dugout, Griffin and this reporter scrolled through videos of his swing over the past two years, ranging from high school to Team USA to the Bradenton Marauders and Curve. He revamped his swing this winter, working with his father, Kevin, local hitting coach Josh DeMoney and former big leaguers Mark DeRosa and Brian McCann. His bat went vertical. His hand placement changed. The stance was widened. His head stayed steady.
The results in pro ball speak for themselves. Griffin and his dad talk daily about that swing, and he has benefited from instruction from the Pirates’ side, especially Bradenton hitting coach Quentin Brown, to help build a better swing.
“I was just trying to be athletic,” Griffin said, looking at his high school swing. “Hit the ball hard and get on base. Incredible senior year, but I didn’t know there would be so much to learn, so much that I could get better at.
“As I look at this swing here,” Griffin continued, pointing to the phone as a video of a home run he hit with the Curve played on loop, “it just shows the hard work I’ve been putting in. Trying to stay on my backside, not get too much in front, work on firing my hip, being on balance, there’s a ton that I’ve worked on. It’s cool to see it pay off.”
Another video plays. THWACK.
That attitude has stood out to director of hitting development Jonathan Johnston. When asked what makes Griffin special, the first thing Johnston brought up was his desire and ability to learn.
“I think it can be overlooked what it takes to do that,” Johnston said. “... He just continues to be present with what’s going on and very aware of a lot of things. That just bodes well for his ability to grow and get better.”
Through his success this year, Griffin hasn’t forgotten this is a game of failure, a game of self-discovery. This year has been a learning experience, and seeing that swing in action or seeing infield work pay off is an affirmation of what he can do.
“That’s the reason I love baseball so much,” Griffin said. “There’s so much failure, so much adversity. When you overcome it, it’s a pretty cool feeling.”