Pirates’ Konnor Griffin Uses Brewers Series to Take Huge Step
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PITTSBURGH — Konnor Griffin has had his struggles from the plate as a rookie, but he's showing growth and improvements that the Pittsburgh Pirates desperately need.
Griffin has been excellent through two games against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field and is putting on quite the show for the Pirates.
He had a great first game, where he hit his first home run in the major leagues, a solo shot into the Pirates bullpen on his 20th birthday, making both franchise and MLB history in doing so.
Griffin also had a single in the top of the fifth inning and stole a base, then had an RBI-single in the top of the ninth inning, scoring two runners in the 6-0 win and finishing with his first three-hit game as a major leaguer.
His second game was good as well, leading off the top of the third inning with a single and then hitting an RBI-single in the top of the fourth inning, putting the Pirates up 2-0 in the eventual 6-3 win in extra innings.
Griffin compiled five hits over eight at-bats over these two games and it's a big step in his development as a major leaguer.
Why This is Crucial for Griffin Going Forward
The Pirates brought up Griffin ahead of their home opener on April 3 and then signed him to a nine-year, $140 million contract extension on April 8, all within the same homestand.
Griffin is playing in just his third road series, with his first road series vs. the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, April 10-12, and then his second road series vs. the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field, April 21-23.
He had just one hit in 11 at-bats against the Cubs and then no hits in 11 at-bats vs. the Rangers, making him 1-for-22 on the road before this series, a .045 batting average.
Griffin had his home run and his single off of Brewers right-handed starting pitcher Brandon Woodruff off of a four-seam fastball and a sinker, respectively, and then hit a cutter on his RBI-single in the top of the eighth inning.
He then hit both of his singles in the second game off of Brewers right-handed starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski, a 2025 All-Star, with the first a 99.7 mph four-seam fastball and the second a 93.9 mph slider.
One of the biggest adjustments for someone like Griffin going from the minor leagues to MLB is dealing with high-velocity pitches, something he noted on his first homestand.
“Yeah, every time I step into the box, there’s going to be a good plan against me and the velo’s a little higher, the velo’s consistently higher than what I saw in the minors," Griffin said. "So just trying to adjust to that and continue to be myself and continue to trust my work and my preparation and when I get in the box, just try to be a tough out.”
Griffin having four of his five hits come off of high-velocity pitches is crucial, coming into this game with a .071 batting average vs. fastballs, and if he can keep this up, he'll start to have more effective at-bats moving forward.
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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.