Minor League Baseball

One of the Top Prospects in Baseball Sends Congratulatory Message to Recent Blue Jays Draftee

Konnor Griffin, who is shooting up prospect rankings with the Pittsburgh Pirates, is happy to see the Blue Jays take high school infielder JoJo Parker.
Brady Farkas|
National League Konnor Griffin (24) throws the ball during the second inning against American League at Truist Park on July 12.
National League Konnor Griffin (24) throws the ball during the second inning against American League at Truist Park on July 12. | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

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Pittsburgh PiratesToronto Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays drafted shortstop JoJo Parker with the No. 8 pick in the MLB Draft on Sunday night, adding him to a rather-depleted farm system. Parker, a Mississippi high school shortstop, was ranked as the No. 7 prospect in the draft by ESPN.

ESPN had the following to say about him:

The sales pitch is clear: Many evaluators think he's a 70-grade hitter with 70-grade makeup, excellent performance and polish, while everything else he does is around average.

Parker is not the biggest, strongest or fastest but could be one of the rare players who is such a good hitter that it floats his whole profile, helping him get to all of his solid-average raw power (roughly 20 homers annually), and then if he ends up at second/third base long term, he'd offer some of the upside of a high school player with some of the certainty of a college player.

Parker also has a fan in Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin, who is currently ranked as the No. 12 prospect in the sport, per MLB Pipeline. Griffin sent a message of congratulations to Parker on social media, saying: Congrats to my boy @Parker2Jojoon being drafted by the Blue Jays! They got a great player!

Griffin, 19, is currently playing for the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers and is projected to make his major league debut in 2027. He is also from Mississippi.

Hitting .327 with 13 homers, 53 RBIs and 41 stolen bases, Griffin is another reason for Pirates fans to be excited. Pittsburgh selected high school right-hander Seth Hernandez with the No. 6 pick in the draft on Sunday night, a universally praised move.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is the senior writer for “Minor League Baseball on SI’’ and the host of “The Payoff Pitch’’ podcast, which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. Follow Brady on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.

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