Konnor Griffin

Konnor Thomas Griffin

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 222 lb.
• High School Jackson (MS) Preparatory School
• Debut April 3, 2026

• Born April 24, 2006 in Jackson, MS USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Shortstop Konnor Jackson was the 9th overall selection of the 2024 amateur draft, taken by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of a high school in Mississippi. The year before, he had been a member of the USA junior national team that had participated in the 2023 U-18 Baseball World Cup. He hit .192/.241/.308 and allowed 2 runs in 1 1/3 IP. Mostly playing right field in the tourney, he was 0 for 3 in their Bronze Medal Game loss to South Korea. He was named the Gatorade Player of the Year as the best high school player in the country in 2024. He was a two-way player in high school, but the Pirates wanted him to focus on being a position player.

The Pirates' decision paid immediate dividends as he quickly rose to the top of the prospect rankings: he was at #57, according to Baseball America before the 2025 season, and had risen to #1 by the time spring training opened in 2026. He only made his professional debut in 2025, but he had a great first season. He started off by hitting .338 in 50 games for the Bradenton Marauders of the Florida State League and was named to play in the 2025 Futures Game. He was then promoted to the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic League where he hit .325 in 51 games, and then he finished the year with the Altoona Curve of the Eastern League, where he hit .337 in 21 games, all while being 4.6 years younger than the average player in the circuit. Putting it all together, his slash line was .333/.415/.527 in 122 games, with 117 runs, 21 homers and 94 RBIs. He also stole 65 bases while only being caught 13 times. He was named the Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year as well as an All-Star and the top prospect in the Sally League and a High-A All-Star. He played both shortstop and center field during the season.

He was one the big stories around baseball as he arrived in spring training in 2026, the big question being whether the Pirates would decide to have him start the year with the major league team, even though he was just 19, as he was clearly a generational talent. The answer came on March 21st, when the Pirates decided to send him back to minor league camp. He was batting .148 over his last 10 spring training games, after a hot start, and .171 in Grapefruit League action overall. Yet, in spite of this, he was tied for the team lead in homers (4) and RBIs (9). After spending the first week of the season in the minors, he was called up to Pittsburgh in time for their home opener on April 3rd with Jared Triolo struggling at the plate out of the gate. That made him the first teenager to play in the majors since Juan Soto had made his debut also at age 19 in 2018. He went 1 for 3, with an RBI double in his first at-bat, in a 5-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles. A few days later, on April 8th, the Pirates announced that they had come to an agreement with Griffin on a nine-year contract extension lasting through 2034 and worth an estimated $140 million. It was easily the largest contract in franchise history, topping the $106 million given to OF Bryan Reynolds in 2023. He celebrated his 20th birthday in style on April 24th as he hit his first big league homer and had three hits in a 6-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers. The homer came off Brandon Woodruff in the 3rd inning and let him join the very small fraternity of players who have homered on their 20th birthday, joining Aramis Ramirez (who also did so with the Pirates, in 1998), Buddy Lewis (1936) and Fred Carroll (1884). None of the other three had hit his first career homer on that day, however, so he was the 25th and youngest player to have hit his first career homer on his birthday.

Notable Achievements

• 2025 Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year Bradenton Marauders, Greensboro Grasshoppers and Altoona Curve

Further Reading

• Will Aldrich: "Griffin helps Pirates raise Jolly Roger with RBI double in 1st career AB", mlb.com, April 3, 2026. [1]
• Jim Callis: "Meet 19-year-old Konnor Griffin -- MLB's new No. 1 prospect after an unprecedented rise", mlb.com, July 24, 2025. [2]
• Theo DeRosa: "Konnor Griffin already doing things unprecedented for a teenager", mlb.com, March 1, 2026. [3]
• Dawn Klemish: "2 for 1! MLB's top prospect clears Monster twice for 1st spring HRs", mlb.com, February 25, 2026. [4]
• Jason Mackey: "Top MLB prospect Konnor Griffin set to debut in Pirates' home opener Friday", mlb.com, April 2, 2026. [5]
• Jason Mackey: "Konnor Griffin, Pirates agree on record 9-year extension", mlb.com, April 8, 2026. [6]
• Allison Mast: "MLB's No. 1 prospect 'having fun' at Double-A, clobbers first two homers at the level", mlb.com, August 30, 2025. [7]
• Jackson Stone: "Griffin's 20th b'day bash: First HR, first 3-hit game (but no bounce house)", mlb.com, April 24, 2026. [8]
• Rob Terranova: "Baseball’s No. 1 prospect is already hitting moonshots (and maybe cars)", mlb.com, February 11, 2026. [9]
• Ben Weinrib: "'It's a fun battle': 2024 first-rounders Yesavage, Griffin show off strengths in Single-A duel", mlb.com, May 14, 2025. [10]

Related Sites

• Konnor Griffin on mlb.com
• BR Minors page