PITTSBURGH — All of the feelings had been there, from pleasure to jitters and every part in between.
Well, virtually every part.
The one factor Konnor Griffin did not really feel when the Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop, who is nineteen years, 344 days outdated, ready for his massive league debut Friday in opposition to the Baltimore Orioles was shock.
“I’m ready for this,” Griffin mentioned a couple of hours earlier than stepping onto the sphere at PNC Park as a serious leaguer for the primary time.
It actually appears that means.
All of Griffin’s appreciable bodily presents had been on show over 2 hours, 44 minutes in a 5-4 victory over the Orioles.
There was the tidy double play he turned in the second inning. There was the 105 mph rope he hit to the wall in heart area in his first at-bat a couple of minutes later in opposition to Baltimore’s Kyle Bradish that scored Ryan O’Hearn and despatched a jolt by means of a sellout crowd.
There was his blistering sprint from second to residence on an ensuing floor ball to proper area by teammate Jared Triolo. There was the boldness to efficiently problem a strike name in his third at-bat. There was the composure to assemble a chopper he briefly bobbled earlier than firing to first for an out to finish the eighth inning.
It was all a part of what Griffin referred to as “hands down one of the best days of my life” and what everybody concerned with the group hopes is the beginning of a protracted, profitable run for a franchise that hasn’t reached the postseason in over a decade.
“He’s a difference-maker. It was very apparent today,” mentioned Pirates ace and reigning National League Cy Young winner Paul Skenes, who is aware of about coming into the majors with outsized expectations.
Just 628 days after Pittsburgh chosen him with the ninth choose in the 2024 beginner draft, the athletic and mustachioed 6-foot-3 Griffin discovered a No. 6 jersey hanging in his locker at PNC Park and his identify penciled in the seventh spot in the lineup in opposition to the Orioles. He is the primary teenage place participant to achieve the majors since Juan Soto did it with the Washington Nationals in 2018.
On the floor, it appears quick. Not for Griffin, who checked each field — and rapidly — whereas sprinting by means of the Pirates’ system. The ultimate steps came to visit the previous week when he hit .438 in a handful of video games for Triple-A Indianapolis.
All of which made for a full-circle second when Griffin grew to become the youngest Pirates participant to get successful in his first sport since Hall of Fame second baseman Bill Mazeroski did it July 7, 1956. The membership honored Mazeroski, who died in February at 89, by having “Maz” painted into the outfield grass behind second base, not removed from the place Griffin — who was scouted and signed by Mazeroski’s son Darren — went to work on a heat spring afternoon that had a decidedly early fall playoff-like vibe.
“Darren is the reason I’m here,” Griffin mentioned. “He believed in me and took a chance on me. That’s pretty special right there, and I’m going to cherish that a long time.”
Griffin’s call-up got here lower than two weeks after he was one of many final cuts throughout spring coaching, the place he mashed three homers however hit .171. Rather than sulk, he headed to Triple-A and made the changes mandatory — attempting to get again to treating his job like a sport of whiffle ball again residence in Mississippi — to get a name that has lengthy felt inevitable.
“He just went right down and hit his stride and was able to reset in a couple of days,” Pirates supervisor Don Kelly mentioned. “Which again, for anybody, is really impressive, especially for a 19-year-old kid whose hopes and dreams were to make the big leagues.”
Those desires grew to become actuality when Indianapolis supervisor Eric Patterson referred to as Griffin to his lodge room early Thursday and informed him he was heading to The Show.
The subsequent 24 hours had been a blur.
From the brief drive from Columbus to Pittsburgh to the scramble for at the least 40 family and friends members to make it to the ballpark that is tucked laborious in opposition to the Allegheny River in time for Friday’s first pitch.
Griffin is the newest in a string of high-profile arrivals in Pittsburgh, from Skenes to rookie right-hander Bubba Chandler to catcher Henry Davis.
The future that has been talked about since common supervisor Ben Cherington was employed in late 2019 is lastly arriving. Perhaps it is telling of how far the membership has come that Griffin is becoming a member of a roster that has undergone a big improve in current months, with the additions of All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, All-Star first baseman/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn and veteran designated hitter Marcell Ozuna.
A yr in the past, followers chanted for proprietor Bob Nutting to promote the membership through the residence opener. Those calls have light, changed by one thing seemingly as uncommon: optimism for a group that hasn’t gained a playoff sequence for the reason that 1979 World Series.
“This team is loaded,” Griffin mentioned. “I get to come in here and just be a piece of this puzzle.”
Perhaps a really massive piece. For a really very long time. The Pirates and Griffin have engaged in talks a few contract extension that may hold him with the membership for many of the subsequent decade.
Griffin demurred when requested about it Friday, although he made his intentions clear.
“All I’m going to say is I want to be a Pirate for a long time,” he mentioned. “This is a special place, and I’m thankful to be here.”
