The Pittsburgh Pirates have a gem in shortstop prospect Konnor Griffin. Griffin has already turned heads during Major League Baseball's spring training, with his powerful bat and solid defensive play. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington says he is undecided though on whether to put Griffin on the Pirates' Opening Day roster.
“I just think we haven’t gotten there,” Cherington said, per MLB.com. “Take it a day at a time. As we get a little deeper into March, we’ll start making decisions as we get closer with the roster.”
Griffin currently has three home runs in 20 total at-bats during this spring training.
“He’s been impressive, as we anticipated he would be,” Cherington said. “Knowing Konnor, the physical skills and who he is as a person, we anticipated that he would do good things in spring training. And he has.”
Griffin was recently named the no. 1 overall prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline.
Pirates are looking for offense in 2026, and Konnor Griffin could help
The Pirates finished the 2025 season with a 71-91 record. Pittsburgh finished dead last once again in the National League Central. A big reason for Pittsburgh's struggles was its offense, as the team finished last in MLB in runs scored and home runs.
Cherington put a lot of emphasis on finding offense this offseason. Pittsburgh signed free agents Ryan O'Hearn and Marcell Ozuna. The team also traded for Brandon Lowe.
The question now is what will the Pirates do with Griffin. While Griffin has shown that he can hit against MLB pitchers, Cherington appears hesitant to bring him up to the big leagues quickly.
“We believe we have a responsibility as an organization with Konnor,” Cherington said. “He’s got a chance to have a really good, long career. It’s our job to do everything we can to support him to be in the best spot possible to do that.”
Griffin has yet to play in a regular season MLB game. He hit at a .333 batting average while slugging in the Pirates' farm system in 2025. The shortstop posted 21 home runs and 94 RBIs.
