Pittsburgh, meet your shortstop — arriving fashionably late, and not planning to leave anytime soon.
Konnor Griffin, baseball’s top prospect, will join the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday for their home opener. The team teased the potential superstar’s promotion, confirmed by The Athletic’s Will Sammon, in a social media post on Thursday.
Griffin, who turns 20 on April 24, is a five-tool phenom who could be the sport’s most exciting prospect since Mike Trout.
While the Pirates front office has attempted to tamp down expectations for the teenager, Griffin’s ceiling conjures incredible hope for a fan base desperate for a return to relevance. The Pirates have reached the postseason just three times since 1992, and since Barry Bonds walked in ’92, they’ve had only one other NL MVP: Andrew McCutchen.
After Griffin batted .171 in spring training, the Pirates had him start the season at Triple-A Indianapolis. That decision dashed Griffin’s chance to be the first teenager to start on Opening Day since Adrian Beltré in 1999, and the first to debut on Opening Day since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989.
In five Triple-A games, Griffin was 7-for-16 with three doubles, two steals, five walks and four strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Jared Triolo started at shortstop for the Pirates’ first five games of the season. He went 3-for-20 and made one error in 45 innings. After a disastrous outing for reigning NL Cy Young winner Paul Skenes on Opening Day, the Pirates lost three of their first six games of the season.
The No. 9 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Griffin climbed quickly in his first pro season in 2025, batting .333 with a .942 OPS, 21 homers and 65 stolen bases between Low A, High A and Double A. He is a supreme athlete, capable of playing shortstop or center field — another position in which the Pirates currently lack plus defense — and has both power and speed in spades.
The next big question is whether Griffin will agree to a long-term extension with the Pirates — a possibility discussed by the sides in spring training, multiple league sources told The Athletic.
Recently, the Seattle Mariners signed shortstop prospect Colt Emerson to an eight-year, $95 million contract — the largest deal given to a player who has yet to make his MLB debut — and the Milwaukee Brewers agreed to ink minor-league shortstop Cooper Pratt, a lower-ranked prospect, to an eight-year, $51 million contract with two option years. A Griffin extension could exceed both figures.
Last year, midway through his rookie season, Boston Red Sox outfielder Roman Anthony signed an eight-year, $130 million extension, with escalators bringing the maximum value of the deal to $230 million. That’s more in the ballpark of what Griffin would command. It would be an unprecedented range for Pirates owner Bob Nutting; the Pirates’ record contract is the eight-year, $106.75 million extension Bryan Reynolds signed in 2023.
There are many reasons why this is the right time to call up Griffin. There’s his readiness, the team’s shoddy shortstop play so far this season, the importance of taking advantage of Skenes’ early years, and the front office’s need to deliver a contender instead of the franchise’s eighth consecutive losing season.
Then there’s the possibility of a Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) pick. Had the Pirates waited until after the first two weeks of the season to promote Griffin, as they did Skenes in 2024, they wouldn’t be eligible for a PPI draft pick if he won Rookie of the Year, as Skenes did. Skenes gained a full year of service; the timing of the promotion cost the Pirates a year of club control and a PPI pick.
The Pirates are taking no such risk with Griffin. He is Pittsburgh-bound. Now we’ll see how much hardware and October baseball are in his future.
