Nineteen-year-old prospect Konnor Griffin made his Major League Baseball debut Friday in the Pittsburgh Pirates' home opener against the Baltimore Orioles at PNC Park. Batting seventh and starting at shortstop, Griffin delivered an RBI double in his first at-bat to spark a four-run second inning in Pittsburgh's 5-4 victory before a sellout crowd of 38,986. The ninth overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft finished 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
Griffin, who turns 20 on April 24, became the first teenage position player to debut in MLB since Juan Soto in 2018 and the first for the Pirates since Aramis Ramirez in 1998. In his first at-bat during the second inning, he smashed a 1-2 curveball from Orioles starter Kyle Bradish into the left-center gap at 105.8 mph, per Statcast, driving in Ryan O’Hearn. Jared Triolo's single soon after allowed Griffin to score, and Henry Davis and Oneil Cruz added RBIs in the frame, giving starter Mitch Keller a 4-0 lead. Pirates manager Don Kelly praised Griffin's versatility, saying, “There's just things that he can do that not a lot of guys can do.”
