For the second time in his four-month major league career, Konnor Griffin is headed to the injured list. On June 26, the Pirates shortstop returned from a month-long layoff due to right arm stiffness. He didn’t miss a hit, posting a 115 wRC+ and recording four two-hit games over the course of eight games.
But the triumphant return was short-lived. In Sunday’s game against the Nationals, Griffin injured his glove hand trying to make a jump shot on shortstop Keibert Ruiz in center field. He told reporters after the game that he was fine, but the photo showed a tear in the sagittal band of his left finger. The team expects him to miss eight to 10 weeks, which would put him in a position to return in early September. This is a big disappointment for Griffin, whose career is off to a great, but not great, start. It’s especially painful for the Pirates, who sit just three games out of the last Wild Card spot. And it’s exciting for baseball, as Griffin is one of the most exciting and promising young players in the game.
I’ll spare you the scouting report because it hasn’t even been a month since Eric Longenhagen published the Pirates Top Prospects list. Light can be the weakest word in his writing of Griffin, the absolute hope in this game. The descriptors used are included good, really good, really good, plus, top, supercharged, turbocharged, franchise changerand, of course, of muscles. Comps include Bobby Witt Jr., Hanley Ramirez, and Carlos Correa. Eric called Griffin “one of the top prospects ever evaluated during the current FanGraphs scouting season.” You get the picture. Griffin is electric, the ninth overall pick in the 2024 draft. He posted a 165 wRC+ across three levels in 2025, then spent just five games in the minors this year before earning a promotion and a nine-year contract extension.
Griffin struggled after his promotion, hitting .182 with a 35 wRC+ over his first 19 games. But against the Brewers on April 24 — his 20th birthday — he hit his first home run and turned in the first three-hit game of his career. He got two hits the next day and was off to the races. Since turning 20, Griffin has hit .314 with a wRC+ of 130, hit five home runs and collected 50 hits in 40 games. It turns out that rushing to the majors as the best player in baseball and then struggling a bit over his first 19 games was Griffin’s version of being an awkward teenager. We should all be lucky. His overall wRC+ is back above league average at 102. He has already stolen 20 bases, and although he has played in just 59 games, his 5.8 ERA is the best mark in all of baseball. Statcast’s FRV rated Griffin’s defense poorly, but both DRS and DRP see him as above average so far.
Add it all up, and Griffin has a 1.2 WAR over 59 games, a 3.3 win rate over 162 games. If you want to be reckless, you can also note that when we start on his birthday, he was on pace for 8.1 wins. It’s an incredible start, and if not for this injury, Griffin would be atop the leaderboard alongside two other exciting young players in the middle in JJ Wetherholt and Kevin McGonigle.
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Even now, it seems like Griffin has a lot of room to get things done. He has a shocking 39% rushing rate, more than 10 percent higher than he has posted at any point in the minors. As a result, his walks and strikeout rates leave a lot to be desired. And while his bat speed is pretty good, his strikeout rate and average exit velocity are well below league average. It’s not unusual how it goes, and it seems safe to assume that Griffin will get some heavy contact as he continues to mature and adjust to the big league stuff.
While it’s disappointing that Griffin is returning to the IL, it’s heartbreaking to see the Pirates once again make sure to give him time to fully recover, especially since hand injuries are notorious. “There were a number of options that were discussed and presented to Konnor and the team through the doctors,” Pirates Director of Sports Medicine Todd Tomczyk told reporters. “The best option is passive care, six weeks of rolling and immobilization to ensure that this can heal properly and that it can return to high activity.” Still, it hurts.
The Pirates could use a shortstop right now. As Kiri Oler explained yesterday, Paul Skenes struggled to a 5.36 ERA in his nine starts. Oneil Cruz has been out for almost a month with a broken left hand, while Spencer Horwitz has been out for two weeks with a strained hamstring. It’s very hard to stay in the playoff hunt with your ineligible ace playing and your starting shortstop, center fielder, and first baseman in the IL. The Pirates Playoff Odds have dropped from 62% on June 1 to 35%. With Griffin out again, Jared Triolo is back to covering shortstop, as he has been for most of the past month. Triolo sports a 76 wRC+, but he has a decent glove at short and brings some value on the ground paths. So far this season, that package has allowed him to put up 0.2 WAR, above replacement level. Not a bad situation for a utility player, but a big step up from Griffin.
That doesn’t mean there isn’t good news in Pittsburgh. First, neither Griffin, Cruz, nor Horwitz are among the team’s top five players by WAR. Bryan Reynolds appears to have found a fountain of youth, Brandon Lowe and Nick Gonzales are on pace for career years, and Braxton Ashcraft leads the staff with a 2.9 WAR and 3.24 ERA. Also, reinforcements may be on the way. On Sunday, GM Ben Cherington said during a radio appearance that both Cruz and Horwitz are doing well, and the team hopes to have them back soon after the All-Star break. Also, you have to think the Skenes will pull things off. Seriously, when was the last time you read bad news about the Pirates in MLB Trade Rumors, and then, at the end of the article, the writer mentioned that the team might be looking to add at the trade deadline?
Still, I don’t want to give Pirates fans hope that isn’t here. They are missing three key players. Griffin won’t be back until after the trade deadline, and both he and Cruz will be recovering from hand injuries, which could have lingering effects on poor performance. This is another tough break for a team that received 40% Playoff Odds this season for the first time since 2016. If the Pirates can find a way to hold on until Griffin returns in September, he might provide a kick that will get them over the line, but that would be great.
