Ben Cherington and the Pittsburgh Pirates face a difficult choice regarding Konnor Griffin’s Opening Day assignment.
The 19-year-old phenom has already hit three home runs in spring training while competing for a big-league role. Cherington discussed Griffin’s strong start Sunday at Bradenton, Florida, per José Negron of DK Pittsburgh Sports.
“He’s been impressive,” Cherington said. “As we anticipated he would be, knowing Konnor and the physical skills and who he is as a person. Anticipated that he would do good things in spring training, and he has.”
The Pirates have given Griffin an opportunity to earn a spot in the majors if he can immediately help the club in 2026. However, Cherington will also consider what’s best for the shortstop’s long-term future.
“We believe we have a responsibility as an organization with Konnor,” Cherington added. “He has a chance to have a really, really good, long career, and it’s our job to do everything we can to support him and be in the best spot possible to do that. Obviously, we want to try to marry that up with him helping the Pirates win as many games as possible, too. So that will continue to guide us.”
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Cherington stressed that spring training won’t be the only factor driving the team’s decision. He also noted the steep jump Griffin would be making to the majors after playing just 21 Double-A games at Altoona last year.
“We believe spring training is a tiny slice of information, and we owe it to players to look at the entire body of work,” Cherington said. “And in Konnor’s case, there’s 100 plate appearances above High-A, so that’s important information, too. We’ll see where this goes, but our job will be to put him in a position to have the longest, best career possible.”
More MLB: Pirates Manager Reveals What Impresses Him About Konnor Griffin
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