By Robert Wilson
Konnor Griffin’s first official play in the major leagues was a grounder to his shortstop position, which he handled and threw to second base for the third out in the top of the first inning, just like he had done dozens of times while playing for Jackson Prep.
Cool. Calm. Focused.
Only instead of playing in front of several hundred fans on Lakeland Drive in Flowood, the 19-year-old Griffin – the youngest player to make his major league debut at shortstop since Alex Rodriquez in 1994 – was playing on the biggest stage in baseball, in the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in their home opener Thursday afternoon in front of sellout crowd of 38,986 at PNC Park. It was the first sellout since June of last year when the Pirates had a Paul Skenes bobblehead giveaway. Skenes was the National League Cy Young winner this past season.
Griffin – who was playing at Prep just two years ago, was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 Major League Draft and rated the No. 1 prospect by mlb.com going into this season – not only handled his shortstop well (started a double play in the second inning), he doubled off the wall in left center field in his first at bat to drive in a run and then showed his speed by scoring from second on a single to shallow right field. The sellout crowd was loud when Griffin was introduced during the pregame ceremony and got even louder when he took an 85 mile per hour curveball to the fence.
Griffin walked in his second plate appearance, then struck out and grounded out in his third and fourth plate appearances.
Overall, it was a successful debut for Griffin. He is the first Pirate under 20 years old (Griffin turns 20 on April 24) to reach base twice in his MLB debut since Bobby Del Greco in 1952.
Griffin is the first teenager position player in MLB since Juan Soto debuted with Washington in 2018. He’s also the first teenager to debut for Pittsburgh since Aramis Ramirez in 1998. Griffin became the first teenager with a hit in his MLB debut since Jurickson Profar homered for Texas in September 2012. Griffin is also the fourth teenager with a walk and an RBI in his debut (since RBIs became official in 1920), joining John Paciorek and Rusty Staub in 1963 and Johnny Callison in 1958.
Griffin’s double ignited a four run inning for the Pirates, and they went on to win 5-4 over the Baltimore Orioles to improve their record to 4-3.
“Man, this place is awesome, let’s keep winning,” Griffin said in his postgame interview with mlb.com on the field. “There was a lot of noise (during his first at bat) and I was just trying to compete. These guys make me feel comfortable out here and I just go out and do my thing. Have fun, try to win games and compete.”
It has been a whirlwind 36 hours for Griffin, who was told by his Class AAA manager at Indianapolis Thursday morning that he was going to the show.
Griffin tried to call his mom, Kim, to tell her the good news, but she was at work, overseeing the sound production for her school district’s kindergarten spring play and Griffin’s went to voicemail. Then Griffin texted his mom “I need you to call me right now.” Kim took a break from the play, stepped outside and FaceTimed her son who told her the great news.
“I couldn’t scream because there were people inside, watching the play,” Kim told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Friday morning outside of PNC Park. “So, of course, I was just jumping up and down, fake screaming, doing everything I could to contain my excitement.”
Meanwhile, Griffin’s father, Kevin, was at the orthodontist with his son, Kaden, getting a checkup. Kevin stepped outside to take the call.
“We were able to have a good moment that way,” Kevin said.
Then the Griffins relayed the awesome news to family and friends, and prepared for a flight to Pittsburgh..
“I don’t even know what I have in my suitcase,” Kim said. “I just threw stuff in and made it here.”
By noon Thursday, the Griffins were on a flight to Pittsburgh along with Griffin’s wife, Dendy, Prep coach Brent Heavener and the parents of fellow Prep grad and Pirates teammate, outfielder Jake Mangum. There were more than 30 friends and family members in attendance at Griffin’s MLB debut.
The Pirates put Griffin’s clubhouse locker next to Mangum.
“I know there’s a lot of people from Jackson Prep, the Jackson metro area and the state of Mississippi who are really excited to see him make his major-league debut,” Mangum said in an interview with Triblive.com. “I’m definitely one of them, too. Happy he’s here. I know all the work he’s put in during the offseason and the past. Special kid, special talent and really excited to have him onboard.”
Mangum started four of the Pirates first six games, and came in to replace Bryan Reynolds in left field in the eighth inning Friday.
Griffin, like Mangum, are as humble as they come. A great example of that was why Griffin is wearing No. 6. Some stars like Griffin might ask for a certain number, a favorite number, but not Griffin. They gave No. 6 so that’s what he’s wearing.
Griffin played with the big league club in the preseason, but was sent down to Class AAA Indianapolis. It only took five games for the Pirates to bring Griffin back up.
“It’s hard when you get to the end of spring training, you’re fighting for a (spot on) a team and you don’t make the team, the let-down that happens — you didn’t see that with him,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “He just went down (to Triple-A) and hit his stride and was able to reset in a couple days. For anybody, that’s really impressive, especially for a 19-year-old kid.”
Bryce Harper (2012), Mike Trout (2011) and Felix Hernandez (2005) were other notable teens to debut, with Griffin set to be just the 13th player under 20 years old to reach the majors since 2000.
The 6-foot-3, 222-pound Griffin had an outstanding season in his first full year in the minor leagues last year, with a .333 batting average with 23 doubles, 4 triples, 21 home runs, 117 runs scored, 94 runs batted in and 65 stolen bases in 122 games, playing with Class A Bradenton and Greensboro and Class AA Altoona. He was named the Minor League Player of the Year and also won a Gold Glove for excellent defensive play last season.
“The thing that jumped out to me the first time I saw him was, man, this kid is big,” longtime MLB broadcaster Buster Onley said. “He looks like an absolute beast. He reminds of way back in the day of Cal Ripken with the body. He’s a big dude, yet he’s really fast.”
