Pirates New Konnor Griffin Injury Update Means Longer Return
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates haven't had shortstop Konnor Griffin in the lineup for the past week and they'll have to practice more patience before he officially returns.
Griffin went on the 10-day injured list back on May 31 after suffering a right arm flexor strain, preventing him from playing shortstop.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said that they're going to be "more conservative" for when Griffin returns, following his flexor mass muscle strain, which the location of which is causing them to give Griffin more time.
Cherington did say that Griffin is close to being fully asymptomatic, which would put him on track to start a throwing program, but that they'll wait a few more days than originally thought for him to do so.
“Yeah well when we were in Texas in Houston, he spent a day with Dr. [Keith] Meister in Dallas and so we put Dr. Meister’s assessment with our own doctors," Cherington said on The Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan.
“What I got from all that was an agreement on the diagnosis, flexor mass muscle strain, some adjustment to timeline, erring a little bit more conservative and I think from what I understand really that comes down to the specific location of the flexor mass strain.
“Not every flexor mass muscle strain is the same and after just more collaboration between the doctors, more information shared, given the exact spot that Konnor has the muscle strain, we’re going to be a little bit more conservative on the timeline. That means I don’t have a timeline.
“Still believe he’s going to be a part of our team, a part of our lineup for certainly the biggest chunk of the season. Probably adding some days on to what we maybe had thought at some point.
“The good news is he’s, based on the report I’m getting, almost completely asymptomatic at this point and that was going to be the first step, whenever that happens, whenever he was comfortably and fully asymptomatic, then he would advance into more full baseball activities, eventually get to throwing.
“You know Konnor, he’s going to attack this 100%. He’s going to do everything he can to be back in the lineup as fast as he can. He’s also incredibly important, so we’re not going to take any risks.”
Why Pirates Are Being Careful With Griffin's Injury
The Pirates don't want to rush Griffin back, as Cherington said, as there's still many games left this season.
Griffin has improved from the plate, slashing .270/.327/.402 for an OPS of .729 in 51 games, with 51 hits, nine doubles, two triples, four home runs, 22 RBI and 14 stolen bases on 15 attempts.
There's also great promise for Griffin at shortstop, where he won an MiLB Gold Glove Award in 2025 and shown off his glove and arm this season.
The Pirates signed Griffin to a nine-year, $140 million contract extension on April 8 and his future with the team a big part to them turning themselves into a winning franchise, after more than a decade out of the postseason.
Cherington said that of all the things that Griffin will do in his injury rehab, throwing will come at the end, likening it to a pitcher building back up.
“Obviously given the injury, that’s the part that we’re going to be the most cautious about," Cherington said. "He can take ground balls, he can run, he can hit, it’s the throwing that we’ll be the most careful about and that’s the part I don’t expect would happen until No. 1, he’s fully asymptomatic and No. 2, there’s probably some progression he goes through in terms of like a pitcher would almost, you’re going to go through a progression of exercises, stretching, plyo ball, programming, stuff like that before he can pick up a ball."
“Again, expect that that’s all going to happen in a pretty reasonable amount of time, but the throwing will be the last thing to come.”
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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.