Pirates facing tough Konnor Griffin reality, but what should the plan be?

Tuesday's loss for the Pittsburgh Pirates contained at least one silver lining: Konnor Griffin went 2-for-4 with a double. This was an important game for the stud rookie, who has struggled at the plate since his promotion: 7-for-37 with with 12 strikeouts and three walks in 11 games.

Griffin is 19 years old. Any analysis at all about the first 37 at-bats of his MLB career is bound to be an overreaction, but that hasn't stopped the top analysts in the sport from forging ahead on such narratives.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal speculated on April 13 that Griffin might be "mentally overwhelmed." To show that early struggles don't necessarily say anything about a player's future, Rosenthal cited the example of Mike Trout being sent down to the minors as a rookie.

Rosenthal correctly asserted that the sample size is too small right now for the Pirates to even think about sending Griffin back down. At the same time, Rosenthal didn't rule out such a move if the struggles continue. Fair enough.

Pirates should stick with Konnor Griffin as their starting shortstop from here on out

Rosenthal's take was sound, but his decision to cover the topic at all? That, in and of itself, says a lot about the outside noise Griffin and the Pirates are dealing with in 2026.

When you're as talented as Griffin, you tend to attract a lot of distracting narratives and overreactions that are not always attached to reality, nor are they productive. The media, though, has the power to make these narratives part of reality, whether Griffin or the Pirates like it or not. They can ignore all of it, of course, but even that requires energy.

Suffice to say, any "struggles" that aren't really struggles from Griffin are bound to make the noise extra loud, creating a tougher environment than one would hope for a developing rookie. But again, this is the card Griffin has been dealt as a top-tier prospect, who, by the way, is playing for a winning MLB baseball team.

This was always going to be the reality for Griffin. As soon as he signed a $140 million extension, the baseball world shifted its gaze, if it wasn't already fixed on him. The Pirates' upper management was lauded for investing in Griffin, and now it'll be fascinating to see if the management on the ground — Don Kelly and his staff — stick with Griffin through any and all cold spells at the plate in 2026.

As Rosenthal noted, Griffin is excellent defensively. A demotion wouldn't be the end of the world, but there's always the risk of messing with a young player's confidence by doing so. On the flip side, players have regained confidence by dominating Triple-A pitching, and then are sent back up to return to regularly scheduled programming.

Kelly knows best. Griffin is an obvious star, and it's way too early to make any definitive decisions about his season. For now, Griffin should be in the lineup every day, and in my opinion, that should be the status quo moving forward, no matter what happens.

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