NL Rookie of the Year Favorite, Konnor Griffin Is Flying Up Draft Boards

In today's fantasy baseball market, players rise and fall in draft with each bit of information in spring training games, along with any injury updates. As the calendar flips to March, it’s getting closer to showtime for the home fantasy market and the live events in Las Vegas in the high-stakes market.

Mar 1, 2026; Jupiter, Florida, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin (75) celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Reading ADPs is a key part of winning in fantasy baseball, but it can also be a trap if a player moves higher than his potential or his expected opportunity. In the National Fantasy Baseball Championship, drafts have been going on since the close of the 2025 baseball season.

Konnor Griffin, Pittsburgh Pirates | Shawn Childs

Griffin is one of the hottest names in the fantasy market entering March. I ran the NFBC ADPs from February 1st to 14th. This data is from 15-team formats with 50 rounds of drafting. These fantasy players are putting up real money to bet on their opinions, which in turn gives the general public a better feel for the 2026 player pool.

Konnor Griffin, Pittsburgh Pirates

Over the first two weeks of February, Griffin had an ADP of 195 in the high-stakes market. His minimum pick was 155, and his maximum pick was 246. Six games into spring training, he had three home runs and six RBIs over 14 at-bats (.214), putting shine on his potential of making the Pirates' opening day roster. As a result, his ADP over the past two weeks has moved to 165 (up two rounds in 15-team leagues and 2.5 rounds in 12-team formats. His new range is between 109 and 205 draft selections.

2026 Konnor Griffin Stats | Shawn Childs

The Pittsburgh Pirates snatched up Griffin with the ninth overall selection of the 2024 MJB June Amateur Draft out of high school. In his first season of the minors, he blasted his way through three levels (A, High A, and AA) of minor league baseball.

Griffin handled himself well over his first 207 at-bats at A-ball (.338/49/9/36/26). A bump to high A led to almost repeated success (.325/48/7/36/33 over 194 at-bats). His season ended with 83 at-bats at AA (.337/20/5/22/6).

His walk rate (8.9%) was an asset, with a slight step back at AA (7.1%). Griffin posted a league-average strikeout rate (21.7%). He had an elite contact batting average at each level (.455, .426, and .467). Even with 21 home runs, his average hit rate (1.588) still needs work to approach 25 home runs with Pittsburgh.

MLB's top prospect Konnor Griffin homers off Ranger Suarez! pic.twitter.com/LXDc4Ab4Bj

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) February 24, 2026

2026 Fantasy Outlook: The key to Griffin starting for the Pirates on opening day this year is Pittsburgh locking him up to a long-term deal. If that doesn't happen before the start of the season, he will spend time in the minors to push out his Super Two status.

In the first run of my projection, I have Griffin playing in 128 games, leading to a .258 batting average with 85 runs, 18 home runs, 58 RBIs, and 33 steals.