Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin has revealed which major leaguers he most models his own game after.
Griffin, who was drafted with the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 MLB draft, entered the season as the No. 1 prospect in baseball. After a strong spring training, Griffin was called up to the major leagues just a few days into the new season. One week later, Griffin signed a monster contract for nine years and $140 million, the largest contract in Pirates history, and the biggest contract for a rookie in MLB history.
The 19-year-old Griffin has all of the tools necessary to become a baseball star for many years. To that end, he says that he is modeling his game after two other MLB superstars.
“Man, there’s a lot of guys. Current guys, I like to watch Bobby Witt Jr. play. I like to watch Ronald Acuna Jr. bring the energy that he brings. But yeah, a few guys like that who just play hard, and who have a lot of fun while they do it,” Griffin told Team Mill in a recent interview.
Konnor Griffin Could Help Lead the Pittsburgh Pirates Back to the Playoffs
The Pirates have missed the playoffs for 10 straight seasons, but there is optimism that the Buccos could finally end their postseason drought this year.
So far this season, the Pirates are 13-10, which has them firmly in the National League Wild Card hunt early in the year. The Pirates are fifth in the NL Central right now, but all four teams above them have winning records, so it’s a very tough division at the moment. As the season goes on, it’s unlikely that all five of the teams will have records above .500, but the Pirates are surely hoping that they will have a positive winning percentage for the first time since 2018.
The Pirates have Griffin locked in as their shortstop for the next nine years, plus they have Paul Skenes as their ace. Skenes is arguably the best pitcher in baseball, and the Pirates still have four years of team control left over him. While the Pirates are notoriously known for being penny pinchers, the fact that they gave Griffin the bag should bode well for fans for potentially giving Skenes the long-term, big-money contract that he deserves.
Griffin Has Struggled to Begin His Major-League Career
While Griffin will likely be one of the game’s premier players for the next decade, his rookie season has been a struggle so far. In his first 17 games in the big leagues, Griffin has battled just .207 with a poor .553 OPS and a 56 wRC+, which is 44% below league average. He also has zero home runs, and he has a negative 0.2 fWAR. Now, the odds are he will get going soon, and by the end of the season, his numbers should be closer to league average. But through the first month of Griffin’s big-league career, he has been a below-average player. Still, he is only 19 years old, so the sky is the limit, and he has plenty of time to get to the level that Witt and Acuna are at.
Konnor Griffin Reveals Which MLB Players he Models His Game After