Pirates 2024 first round pick Konnor Griffin dominated in his first taste of High-A baseball, reaching base at least twice in each of his first six games with the Greensboro Grasshoppers after receiving a promotion last week.
Griffin logged two doubles apiece on June 10 and June 11, went 3-for-4 with a homer, a walk and two steals on June 14, then capped off his week with another homer the following day. The 19 year old is slashing .407/.469/.778 across six High-A appearances.
Outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez joined in on the fun for Greensboro, hitting four doubles on the week and adding his 16th home run of the season, good for the top mark in the South Atlantic league. Teammate Javier Rivas occupies the No. 2 spot on the leaderboard, clearing the fence twice last week to give himself 12 home runs; another noteworthy homer came from shortstop prospect Jack Brannigan, who slugged his fifth of the season for Double-A Altoona but landed on the injured list later in the week.
On the mound, top pitching prospect Bubba Chandler received a quick hook on Wednesday, June 11 after landing just 13 of 31 pitches in the strike zone. Chandler recorded two outs and walked four batters before leaving the game.
Pirates pitching prospects Khristian Curtis and Thomas Harrington enjoyed rebound appearances after rough starts to their respective seasons.
Curtis pitched five innings of one-run ball on June 11, while Harrington fanned ten across six innings, allowing two runs in one of his best starts of the year.
Carlson Reed continues to build up his workload in Altoona after beginning the season on the 60-day injured list, working up to 59 pitches and four innings, while Hunter Barco allowed one run over five innings on June 12.