Pirates Manager Praises Konnor Griffin After Promotion

The Pirate selected Griffin with the ninth overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of Jackson Preparatory School in Jackson, Miss. They signed him for $6,216,600, convincing him to forgo his commitment to LSU.

He has made great strides in just his first season out of high school, including representing the Pirates at the Futures Game on July 12 at Truist Park, home of the Atlanta Braves, featuring the best prospects in baseball.

Both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America named Griffin as the top prospect in all of baseball in recent re-rankings, putting great expectations on the youngster.

Kelly trusts that Griffin will reach those expectations and even more, but that he wants people to take a step back and allow Griffin the time to develop properly into that great player.

"I think you have to temper the expectations a little bit because each level you go up," Kelly said. "You see the motor, you see the person and the way he goes about it. There's the talent level that he's got obviously. The package is real and how he goes about competing and playing, and really the reports we got about how he makes everyone around him better as well."

"You wanna keep pushing him and see that growth, but also understand the path is not always linear. There could be some bumps in the road and just trusting him that he's gonna work through that the way that he does and continue to compete through that and continue to get better every single day."

 Griffin is also an imposing figure, standing 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds and is a true athlete on the field, making defensive plays in the infield and the outfield, stealing bases with ease and displaying great power so far.

Kelly, who also stands 6-foot-4, noted that he never looked like Griffin at the same age and that Griffin's athleticism gives him an edge at both shortstop and center field, which will benefit him going forward in his career.

"Way different. I certainly didn't look like that at 18 years old," Kelly said. "I mean he is a physical specimen. He goes out there, he played center field in spring. To be able to go out and play shortstop pretty much everyday, he's bounced between short and center, two elite positions on the field. And to hit the way that he has, steal bases, do that things that he does. He's really special."