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The Pittsburgh Pirates are wasting no time at all with Konnor Griffin as the top prospect in all of baseball has been promoted to Double-A on Sunday. He should debut there on Tuesday in Altoona, getting an even tougher test as the 2025 season nears the end.
Griffin has been very deserving of a promotion for a few weeks now, proving he has what it takes for the next level. He impressed in every way, improving in multiple important aspects of his game.
In Bradenton, he struck out at a 22.9% rate and walked at a 6.5% clip. With Greensboro, through the same amount of games, his strikeout rate fell to 19.2% and his walk rate almost doubled to 12.5%.
Additionally, his OPS jumped from .932 to .946. On the year, he has stolen 59 bases and has slugged 16 home runs and 21 doubles. Most importantly, his groundball rate of 51% dropped dramatically to 38.5%. With his power, keeping it off the ground is important because home runs fly to all fields off his bat. Not to mention, he's always trying to take the extra base.
Pirates promote Konnor Griffin to Double-A and set the focus towards 2026
So far this season, the jump from Greensboro to Altoona has been very difficult for Pirates' prospects. Esmerlyn Valdez went from a .977 OPS to a .687. Omar Alfonzo watched an .842 OPS drop to .617. Lastly is Javier Rivas, posting a .780 OPS and then watching it fall to .421. Three key breakout bats in High-A all just fell apart in Altoona. The jump is definitely difficult between the two levels, especially in the middle of the season.
Griffin is by far the most talented out of this bunch and will look to break this trend. With how quickly he adjusted to Greensboro, he should figure out Double-A pitching quickly. His first test will be against the Phillies affiliate, and four arms in their top 30 on MLB Pipeline are active for Reading. Griffin will have some tough matchups with Altoona.
A hot finish to the season will set things up for a possible MLB debut in 2026. If Pittsburgh can figure out their big league roster and have success before Griffin's ready, then he could be the electrifying boost to send Pittsburgh back to the postseason. It's a long time down the road, but taking it one day at a time is all Pirates fans can do at this point. Gotta enjoy the good news while we can.