The hype surrounding the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason is growing.
Not only does the team return stars like NL Cy Young award winner Paul Skenes and one of the top centerfielders in the game in Oneil Cruz, but the Pirates also added All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, All-Star first baseman Ryan O’Hearn and three-time All-Star designated hitter Marcel Ozuna to a revamped lineup.
One of the other possible new additions could be top prospect Konnor Griffin, who is in the mix for Pittsburgh’s starting shortstop job.
Griffin may be battling the likes of 26-year-old Nick Gonzales for the Opening Day gig.
“That would be pretty special,” Griffin said, according to a report by Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But like I said, still got a long way to go until then. Got to continue to grow as a player and try to be a sponge every single day and learn from the guys every single day.”
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The 19-year-old was selected as the ninth overall pick in the 2024 June Amateur Draft straight out of high school and is the consensus top prospect in baseball.
Griffin finished last season with 21 home runs, 94 RBIs and 65 stolen bases with a sizzling .333/.415/.527 slash line across 484 at-bats covering 122 games between Low-A Bradenton, High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona.
“I try not to think about it too much. I just try to be myself and be in the moment, be present, take it day by day, and just try to grow as a player,” the teenager said of potentially be a starter on Opening Day. “We still have a month, month and a half, until games actually start. So got a lot of time to grow and be prepared for whatever comes.”
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