Pirates' Konnor Griffin Has Best Series Yet
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin is getting better by the day and he showed that in the most recent series vs. the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park.
Griffin had six hits in 12 at-bats against the Reds, hitting .500, while scoring three runs, hitting two doubles, one triple, three RBI and walking twice with just one strikeout in the sweep of a tough rival from the the National League Central Division.
It was a big weekend for Griffin, who has steadily gotten better over the past three series, all against divisional rivals and marked his 20th birthday back on April 24.
He slashed .405/.463/.676 for an OPS of 1.139 over the past 10 games and is now up to .262/.325/.398 for an OPS of .723 on the season, showing a steady improvement in the first month since making his MLB debut.
How Griffin Excelled vs. the Reds
Griffin hit single in the bottom of the fifth inning in the series opener vs. the Reds on May 1 and then scored on Henry Davis' second home run of the game to make it 8-0.
He also earned an RBI when he walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning to confirm the 9-1 victory.
Griffin then excelled in the second game vs. the Reds, finishing with his first four-hit game of his young, MLB career in the 17-7 win on May 2.
He hit an RBI-double in the bottom of the first inning to make it a 5-2 lead and then was the seventh consecutive walk for the Pirates in the bottom of the second inning, tying a MLB record and making it a 9-3 game.
Griffin then hit a triple and showed off his incredible speed to leadoff the bottom of the fourth inning, which he scored on, and hit again later in the inning, but flew out after another five-run inning for the Pirates.
He added two more singles in the game and finished with all four hits above 100 mph in exit velocity, ending his best day in the major leagues so far.
Konnor Griffin is slashing .412/.474/.676 over his past 9 games for the @Pirates.
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 2, 2026
MLB's No. 1 prospect during his first 4-hit outing in The Show:
101 mph double
101.4 mph triple
103.8 mph single
106 mph single pic.twitter.com/Ac23Llggbg
“Yeah just seeing it well," Griffin said on his performance in that win. "Trying to get a good swing off on a good pitch and just competing. That was a big win. Needed to win the series and I’m glad to be able to do my part.
Griffin added a big double for the Pirates in the bottom of the eighth inning in the series finale, which he hit 108.2 mph off the bat and 406 feet, which hit off the top of the center field wall, almost the go-ahead home run.
Konnor Griffin was THISCLOSE to his 3rd big league homer.
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 3, 2026
Instead, MLB's No. 1 prospect ends up with a 406-foot double, 108.2 mph off the bat for the @Pirates. pic.twitter.com/Y86O1WFlZj
Center fielder Oneil Cruz then came through for the Pirates, hitting a single to center field, which saw Griffin display his quickness on the base paths and score sliding head first into home plate for the go-ahead run in the 1-0 win.
"Just got a good pitch," Griffin said on the double. "Got a good barrel on it, and I saw it go off the top of the wall again. That was a cool moment, trying to get to second. Got great guys behind me [who] support me easy and won a game. So that was pretty cool."
Griffin Earns Praise For His Play
The play from the 20-year old didn't go unnoticed this series, with manager Don Kelly loving everything he saw from Griffin this past weekend.
“Huge," Kelly said. "He continues to get better, continues to make adjustments. He crushed that ball to center field. It was so close to going out. He continues to make adjustments offensively, continues to get better defensively, runs the bases extremely well. Just the attitude that he brings every day is infectious.”
Cruz, who also possesses incredible speed and exit velocity, knew that if he could just get a hit, he' get Griffin across home plate in no time at all.
"I knew that anything I hit for a base hit Konnor had a really good chance to score," Cruz said through intepreter Stephen Morales. "Konnor's a tough runner that's always alert and looking for the next base to advance."
Griffin's double played a big role in a game that the Pirates don't win without right-handed starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft throwing 7.2 scoreless innings and giving the offense a chance to win it late.
Ashcraft isn't shocked to see Griffin making the plays he has and said it shows just how everyone believes in each other in the Pirates clubhouse this season.
"Yeah I mean, nobody's surprised," Ashcraft said."When you go in that situation, you're seeing the guys on deck and in the box and taking pitches and putting together at bats. I think I can speak for everybody in here that everybody has a lot of confidence in our guys to put a ball in play and make good things happen. So not surprising there. There's a reason he is who he is, and the team has committed to him the way they have and we're all committed to that as well."
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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.