Braxton Ashcraft Shut Down Konnor Griffin's Apology - Pirates Know Why
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PITTSBURGH — Konnor Griffin is one of the best future talents in baseball and he'll spend most of his youth with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Griffin is still young, only 19 years old, and has made a couple mistakes in his MLB career so far, particularly in the series finale vs. the Washington Nationals at PNC Park on April 16.
The bases were loaded with one out in the top of the fifth inning and Griffin got a ground ball right to him and he looked to try and make the double play.
Griffin instead missed the second base bag and then Nationals second baseman Nasim Nuñez slid into second base and collided with Griffin, who threw the ball and ended up spiking it, allowing all three runs to score in the 8-7 defeat in extra innings.
It was a tough moment for the young Pirates star, one that right-handed starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft soon realized when on the mound during that day.
Braxton Ashcraft Comes to Konnor Griffin's Defense
Ashcraft is in his first full season as a starting pitcher, after finally making the major leagues at 25 years old in 2025, showing the Pirates he was exaclty what they wanted in the rotation.
He saw the mistake Griffin made and made sure he knew that he didn't take it too hard and supported him throughout, as he would any other Pirates teammate.
Ashcraft also noted that Griffin is a great shortstop, winning an MiLB Gold Glove Award last season, and that they need his bat, as he also had an RBI-triple in the game.
“I mean, we talked about it and he came up and said, ‘Hey man, I’m sorry.’ I said, ‘Never apologize to me for the plays you make. Nobody questions the effort you put in, nobody questions the process that you have throughout your work.’ And then he comes back and the next at-bat or the second at-bat after that and hits a triple," Ashcraft said.
"That’s a testament to the professional that he is and the way that he goes about his work and again, he won a Gold Glove in the minor leagues, which is a really hard thing to do. I know that he expects himself to make that play, but again, it’s baseball. Baseball happens. That wasn’t an easy play, at all and it’s part of the game, it’s part of how we go about our process and for him to go out and contribute immediately to the team and to be able to give us a chance to win after that. I mean, if I don’t put two guys on base, that play never happens in the first place.
“He’s an ultimate professional in the way he goes about his work. Like you saw in the interview in the press conference whenever he signed his extension. He’s a 19-year old that has poise, he has everything that I wish I would’ve had at 19 years old.
“I think that I speak for the 25 other guys in the clubhouse that nobody has anything but 100% confidence in Konnor Griffin in the way that he goes about his work and the way that he plays the game and again, that’s a 99 out of 100 times [play]. It’s a game of failure and if you commit to the times that you do fail, this game will kick you out and chew you up and spit you out like ain’t nobody’s business.
“Again, nobody in this clubhouse has a shred of doubt that he’s one of the best defenders in the league and again, it’s just a baseball play. It’s a baseball play, it’s a timing play. Whenever timing plays happen, you can’t fault, there’s no fault to anybody, it’s just again, I say it time and time again, it’s just baseball.”
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.