The Pittsburgh Pirates were facing the famous Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park. With the score still 0-0, No. 75 stepped into the batter’s box for the Pirates.
The ballpark went silent as spectators held their breath in anticipation. A couple of practice swings, then the batting shortstop goes still and laser-focused on the pitcher.
The swing is smooth, controlled, and explosive. The ball rockets off the bat and clears the stadium. Its projected travel distance: 374 feet. Exit velocity: 104.8 miles per hour.
Later that day, Konnor Griffin does it again. His second home run travels 440 feet with an exit velocity of 111 miles per hour. These are extraordinary numbers.
In the MLB, the average exit velocity is 88-90 miles per hour. Anything above a 100 is considered elite contact – even at the pro level. The average home run distance is around 400 feet. Anything above classifies as a big shot.
Griffin is just 19 years old.
The first MLB prospect rankings for 2026 are out, and one thing is crystal clear – Konnor Griffin is an undeniable No. 1. The Pirates took him as the ninth pick in the 2024 draft. His development and rise over the last two seasons have been quick and unquestionable.
Somewhat unexpected, possibly.
Griffin's development
He’s not your typical superstar creating hype online and entertaining the media. Griffin is on the quieter side; he’s reserved and polite, and he works hard in silence.
But as his steady grind begins to pay off, the baseball world is starting to notice.
Griffin grew up in Flowood, Mississippi, and attended Jackson Preparatory School. Originally, he was set to graduate from high school in 2025, but reclassified to 2024.
Konnor’s physicality allowed him to dominate his peers in multiple sports – he also played football and basketball, and always stood out as the fastest, strongest, and tallest kid on any field.
But his passion for baseball ran the deepest. He fell in love with the crisp sound of the bat striking the ball and the sweet taste of success in a game full of failures.
“You literally could tell Konnor, ‘All right, try this,’ and he would do it the first swing. He is very cerebral and very advanced. Some kids it takes a month or even a whole season to figure something out,” said Josh DeMoney, a hitting coach owning a training facility where Griffin trained while growing up.
With DeMoney, Griffin found comfort. He became a regular at his facility, attending hitting sessions that sometimes started at 10 or 11 p.m. after his basketball games.
Griffin spent his weekends traveling the country playing baseball games. During off weeks, he immersed himself in training labs, constantly searching for ways to improve.
In 2022, Maven Baseball Lab opened in Atlanta – a revolutionary player development facility equipped with cutting-edge biomechanical assessments and data-driven tools to ensure game-changing growth and improvement. When Griffin drove to Georgia to try it out, he was a 16-year-old, 6-foot-4, 200-pound prodigy even the top-tier machines weren’t ready for.
Before Konnor showed up, Maven had assessed thousands of players with force plates that measure the amount of energy transferred into the ground during a swing.
The plate was attached to a portable frame that had taken swings from major league All-Stars. When Griffin got on it, he created so much force that it shook the plate loose and moved it out of place.
The staff stared in disbelief. “You're looking at a Ferrari,” said Tyler Krieger, the co-owner of Maven and a former Cleveland minor leaguer. “You're not looking at a little Fiat.”
Once the workers recollected themselves, they put 45-pound weights on each side, so the plate would stay put. It worked, but the moment confirmed what many had already begun to suspect: Griffin was anything but ordinary. His potential seemed limitless.
After excelling in high school, the shortstop could have gone to any college in the country on a scholarship. In 2022, he took a visit to one of the best programs in the country – LSU, where he also met one of the best players in the world - reigning Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes.
That day, Griffin toured the campus with two more recruits. Once they met up with Skenes, the other guys asked Skenes for photos. Griffin didn’t and stayed back.
“And I had so much respect for that,” said Skenes. “He had the presence. It’s a feel thing. It’s such a small world, and he probably knew at some point he would see me again.”
The Pirates' star pitcher was right. Two years later, Pittsburgh drafted Griffin, and Skenes already knew the franchise got a standout player. He had nothing but praise for his new teammate.
“Goes to church every Sunday, doesn't cuss, doesn't do any of that stuff, married at 19,” Skenes said. “It's not common, but nothing about him is common. Everything screams uncommon. And if you want to be uncommon, you want to do uncommon things, it starts with thinking uncommon – and he does that.”
Griffin's run to MLB debut
Despite committing to LSU, Griffin never suited up for the Tigers. In July 2024, he signed a $6.53 million contract with the Pirates and turned professional. He shined in minor leagues during his rookie campaign – he started in Low-A in Bradenton but earned a promotion to the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers before receiving an invite to join a Double-A member, the Altoona Curve.
In 21 games, he recorded five home runs and six stolen bases for the Curve. He was named the 2025 Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year and won the Minor League Golden Glove, a trophy awarded to the best defensive player for their specific position.
Griffin’s terrific pro debut secured him an invite to the Pirates’ spring training camp. And so far, he has excelled, but the game of baseball is anything but linear, and immediate success can be extremely short-lived.
Even after his two home runs against the Red Sox, there are no clear answers on whether Griffin is ready for the MLB.
“I fully trust what the front office and the coaches and everybody have done, how they're going about it,” Griffin said. “They've done a great job so far, allowing me to be free in the minor leagues and be able to move and continue to face challenges.
"But this spring, I’m really trying not to think about it too much. There's a lot of noise. I know there could be a chance I make the big leagues at some point soon, and that's great, but I just want to feel ready.”
The uprising superstar has all the physical aspects to succeed – he possesses the perfect combination of hit, power, and speed. In terms of talent, behavior, and demeanor, he’s every franchise’s dream. Griffin very well could be an immediate star.
But Pittsburgh is handling its gem with caution and precision. The jump to Major League Baseball is unforgiving, and Griffin has only one full professional season behind him. The organisation is trying to strike a delicate balance between accelerating his rise and giving him the time to develop.
The highest level can be ruthless, and the Pirates don’t want to throw him in it too early. Griffin wouldn’t be the first top prospect to turn into a bust and crumble under the pressure.
That’s baseball – the line between success and failure is extremely thin, and sometimes the mental challenge can hurt even the strongest and best players. However, Griffin seems to be in a good place.
“Konnor looks at himself completely different than people look at him,” DeMoney said. “He's always thinking that he needs to get better. He's always trying to improve on something. He doesn't look at himself as a No. 1 prospect.
"Obviously, he knows it, and it's all over the place, but his mindset is he is always trying to find ways to get better at the game and develop.”
The franchise will have to decide soon regarding their prodigy. If Griffin earns an official roster spot, he will be the first teenage hitter to debut on Opening Day since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989.
For a player already drawing comparisons to the game’s brightest talents, it would be only the beginning.