By Robert Wilson
Jackson Prep alumnus Konnor Griffin – the No. 9 overall pick and first high school player selected in the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft – officially became a pro Wednesday morning when he signed a contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates with a $6,532,025 bonus.
The 18-year-old Griffin – the National Gatorade Player of the Year – doesn’t really know what lies ahead of him as he enters professional baseball and take the winding road to his goal, being in the major leagues.
But Griffin is one of the few high school players in the country who is fortunate enough to have a coach in his high school dugout who has walked the journey he is about to embark on.
Prep associate head coach and pitching coach Jay Powell was the No. 19 overall pick by the Baltimore Orioles in the 1993 MLB Draft after his junior year at Mississippi State. Although Powell wasn’t a high school kid going straight to the pros, he knows what Griffin is about to face. And Powell knows what it takes to make it to the big leagues. Powell, a right-handed pitcher, was in the minor leagues for three seasons before making his MLB debut in 1995 with the Florida Marlins. He then played 11 seasons with five teams in the major leagues before an arm injury ended his career in 2005.
“I told Konnor the biggest adjustment you have to make is that everyone is not pulling for you,” said Powell, who was the winning pitcher in Game 7 of the World Series for the Marlins in 1997. “It’s a different environment. You have to live with that. Konnor is a nice kid and a great teammate. It might be a shock to him. That’s primarily what to expect as a pro. The key is to continue to get better. He knows how to handle himself. Konnor is a great kid, a humble kid. He will work hard. The coaches are going to love him. He’s just got to get his feet wet. It’s all about development and moving up. Keep working. Stay healthy. Perform. If you don’t get the job done, you are done. Konnor will make it. He’s going to have some growing pains like everyone does and he will have some adjustments to make. He will get plenty of at bats. The Pirates want to get him to the big leagues.”
“Coach Powell went through a similar process of getting drafted and he was just able to give me a ton of advice on what to expect during the minor leagues,” Griffin said. “I feel really prepared for what’s to come, just because he’s been able to pour into my life, tell me his journey, what he would do differently. And now, I have some great advice to take with me on the road.”
Griffin signed with the Pirates a little more than 30 hours before the deadline of Aug. 1 at 4 p.m. Central. The LSU signee was the last player in the Top 19 picks to sign a pro contract.
“I just can’t thank you enough for taking a chance on a small-town kid from Florence, Mississippi,” Griffin said during his introduction at the Pirates’ PNC Park Wednesday morning, donning his new white No. 24 Pirates jersey with his name stitched on. “I feel like I worked my tail off to get to this position, and I know there’s a lot more work to be done. I can’t wait to start this process. I know it’s going to be a tough process. There’s going to be adversity. But I’m ready to face that. I’m ready to push myself and just see what challenges are going to be in store. I’m ready to attack those and just grow as a player. I think being around great athletes and great players can only help me grow as a player.
“It’s a dream to sign your name on the contract and put a pro jersey on. I’m just super thankful for the people who helped me get here. It feels great. Super excited. Ready to get going. Ready to start my track to the big leagues.”
Baseball America has Griffin ranked as the top position player and second-best prospect already in the Pirates minor league organization.
“He’s an incredible athlete, honestly,” Pirates amateur scouting director Justin Horowitz said the night Griffin was drafted. “A potential five-tool superstar at the highest level, with some of the biggest upside in the whole draft.”
“When you start out playing baseball at a young age, you don’t think about stuff like this,” Griffin’s father Kevin told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But as he got to be 12, 13, 14 years old, you could tell that he was a little bit different than a lot of the kids his age. To see it come full circle is a pretty special moment today.”
The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Griffin will be starting his pro career at shortstop and will go down to the Pirate City minor league complex in Bradenton, Fla., in the near future.
Pirates general manger Ben Cherington said centerfield will be his secondary position.
“There’s a lot of things that he has a chance to do on a baseball field that not everyone can do,” Cherington said. “He’s young. He said it: He’s going to get good competition, good reps. Everyone needs that, but we’ve got a lot of folks excited to work with him.”
“Seeing him and how much he’s grown through this process has been kind of rewarding as parents and makes us feel better about letting him go down to Bradenton,” Griffin’s mother Kim told the Post-Gazette. “We’re just excited for the journey.”
“I can’t wait to hopefully, in a few years, be a part of that team and try to win a World Series,” Griffin said. “It’s been fun watching over the past few weeks, but now it’s time to start my pro career, try to get to the big leagues and help them win games.”
“We are so excited and proud of Konnor with him signing with the Pirates,” Prep coach Brent Heavener said. “Konnor has put in a lot of hard work and did a lot of great things for us at Prep over the past years, but his signing is about him and his future. I can’t wait to watch the next chapter. I know it will come with challenges, but as hard has Konnor works, he will be able to handle it. I’m thankful for my time with him. But now I get to be a fan and can’t wait to cheer for him.”
Griffin became the first Mississippian to win the National Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year and the second Mississippian to receive a National Gatorade Player of the Year in any sport earlier this summer.
Gatorade has been recognizing a state and national winner every year since 1985. Ridgeland High alumnus and former Olympic track and field gold medalist Bianca Knight won the national award in 2006.
Griffin – a two-time PriorityOne Bank/Mississippi Scoreboard Metro Jackson Player of the Year – had one of the best seasons in Mississippi high school history, hitting .559 (third highest in Mississippi, according to MaxPreps) with a school record 76 runs (most in the country, second most in Mississippi history), a school record 83 stolen bases (third most in the country and fifth most in Mississippi history), 39 runs batted in, 13 doubles, 4 triples and 9 home runs this season. His batting average ranked third in school history behind Gene Wood (.606 in 2014) and Luke Maddox (.579 in 2009).
An accurate eye at the plate, Griffin had only 10 strikeouts in 117 plate appearances and walked 47 times and had an .690 on base percentage (third highest in Mississippi). He was caught stealing only one time, when he tried to steal home against Presbyterian Christian School during the regular season. Blessed with the ability to hit with power to all fields, Griffin had a .966 slugging percentage (second highest in Mississippi).
Griffin, whose fastball has been clocked as high as 97 miles per hour, also had a 10-0 record (tied for third in Mississippi in wins) and a 0.72 earned run average (sixth lowest in Mississippi) and 107 strikeouts (sixth best in Mississippi) and only 26 walks in 67 2/3 innings.
A slick-fielding shortstop with great range and lightning quick instincts, Griffin made only five errors and had a .956 fielding percentage and turned 12 double plays.
Griffin led Prep to a school record 39 wins (with only four losses), a seventh straight MAIS Class 6A state championship and a No. 19 final national ranking.
Only two other high school players in Mississippi history have been picked higher than Griffin in the MLB Draft. Ted Nicholson from Oak Park High in Laurel was the No. 3 pick in 1969 and Kirk Presley of Tupelo High was the No. 8 pick in 1993.
Griffin was a member of the 18-U USA National Team last fall and competed in the WBSC (World Baseball Softball Confederation) U-18 Baseball World Cup Aug. 31-Sept. 10 last year in Taipei City, Taiwan.
He participated in the 2023 High School All-American Game and was one of eight players to participate in the MLB-USA Baseball High School Home Run Derby as part of the Major League Baseball All-Star week in Seattle and played in the Perfect Game’s Dick’s Sporting Goods All-American Classic in Phoenix last summer.
Griffin wore the No. 22 Prep jersey this season, awarded to him to wear in memory of Walker Wilbanks, a baseball and football player at Prep who passed away in 2014. A Prep baseball player is awarded the honor of wearing Wilbanks’ number 22 jersey each year.
