Pirates' Konnor Griffin Opens Up About First MLB Injury
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PITTSBURGH — Rookies relish any opportunity they have to show what they do best, particularly Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin.
Griffin hasn't done that in the past two weeks, not playing shortstop with a forearm muscle strain, which hurts him when he throws stopping him from doing a crucial part of his game.
He's spent the entire month of June on the 10-day injured list, but he's stayed with the Pirates during that time, keeping his mind sharp and spending time with his teammates to keep his spirit high.
"I just try to stay locked into the games and not let myself get too far away from the game," Griffin said on June 9. "It's something [where] I could be back here in the next few weeks, and I don't want to be too far away from the game. I want to make sure I'm focused and trying to keep my head in the best space I can."
Griffin Praciticing Patience With Injury
One of the most frustrating parts of this for Griffin is that throwing is really the only thing he can't do right now.
Griffin served as designated hitter for two games against the Minnesota Twins at PNC Park, May 29-30, can run just as fast as he always had and even can field the same, but he couldn't ignore the pain in his arm when he threw.
"Just like tightness and soreness around the elbow area. It felt almost like I pulled something," Griffin said. "So just felt like it was better to let them know, let them be aware [instead of going] out there not even halfway through the year and trying to play through pain and not be at 100%. I want to be 100% when I'm out there."
It's a different type of injury for Griffin, who didn't have any serious pain in his arm growing up, even as a pitcher, and still is quite sure what caused it.
Still, he's remaining hopeful that he'll start his full comeback soon and that he's glad he didn't hurt himself any further than he already did.
"I think it definitely could have got to a point where it was getting worse if I just kept going out there, not doing the rehab or anything," Griffin said. "But that's why I made a decision I should let them know, just to make sure we catch it early before anything is too crazy. I think we caught it at the right time, where I'm not gonna have to miss the whole year, I can just miss just a couple weeks and try to be back out there as soon as possible."
Griffin Close to Starting Throwing Program
Griffin was optimistic he would begin his first big step towards full recovery with a throwing program, beginning as early as June 10.
Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomcyzk pushed back on that a little bit, saying that Griffin must receive full clearance from the team physicians, but that it's a good sign from the rookie to have that faith in himself.
“Love the mindset, which I think is a really important point that he’s feeling really good,” Tomczyk said.
Griffin will start throwing up to 90 feet, then do plyometrics and work with the weighted ball to make sure his arm is in a good spot and responding to the rehab in a positive manner.
This time out has been tough for Griffin, missing out on playing teams he dreamed of doing so as a kid, but the Pirates need him back healthy and he'll just have to wait until he's ready to go before he faces them.
"Yeah. Really starting in Houston, wanted to play in Houston, wanted to get to play against my favorite team growing up the Atlanta Braves," Griffin said. "And then missing playing the Dodgers, that's three really good teams that I wish I was in there. Sucks it happened the way it did, and just gotta hope to play them again soon."
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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.