Pirates Explain Confusing Konnor Griffin Injury Decision

“So everything we’ve learned from our team physicians, from Dr. Meister, second opinion, he was cleared to hit," Tomczyk said. "So that decision was out of an abundance of precaution to both long and short-term for Konnor.

“If you think about the biomechanics of hitting, it would be more concern swinging-and-missing. Not so much on contact that he would continue to put stress and strain on that area, but it would be more the swing and missing, which I don’t believe Konnor does all that often, I’m not a baseball expert. 

“The other concern would be running the bases, when he would have to dive head first, if he was going to put the elbow in a provocative maneuver that would cause stress on that forearm.”

Don Kelly Wants Griffin Back At Shortstop

Pirates manager Don Kelly knows the value that Griffin brings to the team, even as just a 20-year old rookie.

Griffin took over as starting shortstop in his MLB debut on April 3 and signed his massive contract extension just five days later, making him the future star of the franchise.

Kelly recognizes how much better Griffin has gotten from the plate and the speed he possesses, but the Pirates skipper wants his shortstop playing in the field and becoming the Gold Glove Award winner that he has the potential to become, without risking further damage to his arm.

"With Konnor with the arm, any time you swing, you're still using the arm, especially batting right-handed and throwing right-handed," Kelly said. "It might not be exactly the same as throwing.

"The last thing you want to do is have something funky happen in a swing that ends up affecting the arm in a way.  I remember when (former Pirates catcher) Don Slaught would talk about hitting, he'd talk about it's like skipping a rock which is the same thing as throwing.

"Maybe not 1:1 as far as throwing and now with him progressing back, the best thing for Konnor is going on a rehab assignment to make sure that the shortstop defense is at a point where he feels really comfortable.

"We can go through practice all we want of relay throws and doing what we need to do, challenging ourselves and all, until somebody hits it and they're running down the line in the ninth inning and you have to get on it and throw 93-94 [mph] across the infield. That's the challenge and the test that we're looking for him to get back to."