Pirates' bold Konnor Griffin plan suddenly faces its biggest challenge

The Pittsburgh Pirates were delivered a back-breaking piece of news this week in the form of Konnor Griffin's ring finger injury, which is expected to sideline him for roughly two months. In effect, the team will have to survive the dog days of summer without their star rookie, at which point they'll have to hope he can make a quick-enough recovery to return for a playoff push in September.

But beyond just losing the name-brand talent that is Griffin, the Pirates are also being deprived of one of their hottest hitters. His initial taste of the majors was infamously slow; the then-19-year-old hit .182/.247/.242 in his first 72 plate appearances, routinely getting outclassed by the best pitchers in the world.

Despite those struggles, the Buccos didn't lose hope and were rewarded immediately upon Griffin's 20th birthday on April 24. From that date until the time of his injury, the rookie shortstop hit .314/.368/.472 with five home runs and 16 steals, good for a 130 wRC+ and .840 OPS. He also improved his contact quality, with a hard-hit rate above 35% during that window.

Though this injury figures to slow him down, it's a good reminder that being patient with talented players, even at the big-league level, can be a rewarding strategy.

Konnor Griffin's untimely injury could reset the momentum he's found in MLB

The timing of Griffin's injury is particularly frustrating given just how good he was playing recently. He had five steals in his last four games, as well as six multi-hit efforts in his last 10. He became the (literal) fastest player in Pirates history to reach 20 career steals over the July 4th weekend, doing so in just 59 games.

We're still waiting on the former No. 1 overall prospect to showcase more of his prodigious power, as well as better swing decisions at the plate, but those are small nitpicks in what's quickly become one of the most exciting profiles in baseball. There are also dormant concerns within some of his underlying stats — his average exit velocity of 87.8 mph rests in just the 27th percentile league-wide — though a right elbow strain suffered in May almost certainly has something to do with that.

Instead of getting to see him address those concerns with more growth, we'll all have to exercise some patience as he works through this finger injury. Unfortunately, the Pirates' playoff hopes are a little too fragile to simply pretend like everything will be okay without Griffin; hovering around a .500 record, they're barely clinging onto the Wild Card race ahead of the All-Star Break.

The team will have to resist rushing the 20-year-old back, tempting as it may be if they're still in the Wild Card conversation come September. Griffin's future is blindingly bright, with his recent hot streak further proof of just how good he really is.

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