Earlier this month, Jeff Passan said the Pirates were considering giving Konnor Griffin the starting shortstop job out of spring training. If he didn’t say that, I wouldn’t even have wrote this post, because Griffin is 19 and only reached Double-A. So, now I think Griffin has a real chance of breaking camp? No, it’s total nonsense. It’s such nonsense that nonsense filed a trademark infringement case for it not being labeled nonsense and paying nonsense a nickel for the rights to nonsense. “It wasn’t labeled nonsense, but, in the spirit and essence, that was pure nonsense. No one’s heard such nonsense before without paying nonsense a nickel for being nonsense.” You know, the usual legal who’s-what’s-its. I say this is nonsense, because do you remember Paul Skenes’s rookie year? He didn’t need time in the minor leagues at all, but, sure, give him one year in the minors just to make sure things are copacetic. He needed to start the 2nd year in the minors? Come on, man! How many times are we going to fall for the banana in the ol’ tailpipe? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me every single year by holding down prospects who are ready, shame on me and you. You’re still shameful in this. I’m not saying the Pirates are right to be doing this, but they’re absolutely doing it. So, what can we expect from Konnor Griffin for 2026 fantasy baseball?

Intro Paragraph Decoder, “So, you don’t think Griffin will break camp, but you’re here writing this for 2026?” Yeah, IPD, because Konnor Griffin is that special. “We’re not ‘initial familiar.’” Last year, Konnor Griffin went 21/65/.333 in three stops of the minors (Single, High and Double-A). That’s ludi. As a 19-year-old! He might be Ronald Acuña Jr. pre-seventeen knee jankies. He might be Mike Trout pre-thirty-four back jankies. Konnor Griffin, can you pitch? Because Imma about to compare you to Ohtani. This guy is unreal. That’s why we’re here. I rank 500 guys in the preseason, and Konnor Griffin will be inside the top 500, because, if you’re in a league that drafts that many players, you should draft him, just on an outside chance he’s up early. (Speaking of my rankings, sleepers start on Monday here and my rankings will start rolling out on Patreon on Monday.) Okay, how about a looksie or two:

MLB’s No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin (@Pirates) homers for the @AltoonaCurve to continue his tear at Double-A:
11 G
3 HR
16 RBI
.971 OPS pic.twitter.com/ylVYxM4Wfl

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 31, 2025

And:

“That was a big league home run!”

MLB’s No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin joins Jonatan Clase (2023) as just the second Minor Leaguer with 20+ homers and 60+ stolen bases in a single season since 2005.@Pirates | @YoungBucsPIT | @AltoonaCurve pic.twitter.com/ILhNd8DCtY

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 6, 2025

Jonatan Clase! There’s a name you don’t hear every day.

Konnor Griffin is about as perfect as they come: HardHit Launch Angle 9; 107.6 MPH 90th percentile EV, average is 102.4 in minors; average EV is 90.7 MPH, 25% Chase, MiLB average was 27; once again he was 19. He strikes out around 23% of the time. I know I was giving the Pirates crap about not really being serious about giving him a chance, but I would like to see how he does against better competition too. Of course, one can see that at Spring Training, and I would absolutely let him sink or swim in the majors from Opening Day on, expecting him to swim me all the way to the bank as he goes 20/40/.260 his rookie year! I’m the mother-effing Gingerbread Man on the back of Griffin as he swims! Is that realistic? No, it’s not. Sigh. He’ll be a fun call-up when it happens in August is my guess, but is also worth a late flyer in deep leagues, just in case we’re all shocked. For 2026, I’ll give Konnor Griffin projections of 16/3/18/.267/9 in 124 ABs with a chance for much, much more.