Someone get this kid some sunglasses, cause his future is bright!
There’s a new name atop the best of the best in Minor League Baseball, as the Pittsburgh Pirates first-year player Konnor Griffin was just named the top prospect in all of baseball.
Griffin, who is just 19 years-old, is having an unprecedented start to his young career, as halfway through his first professional season there are already talks of him seeing a Major League promotion as early as next year. While that’s highly unlikely, it doesn’t change the fact that Griffin is absolutely tearing through the minor leagues.
Drafted ninth overall by Pittsburgh in 2024, Griffin’s fast start to his career saw him start in the Florida State League at the beginning of the season. In 50 games with the Bradenton Marauders Griffin had a .338/.396/.536 slash line with a .932 OPS. His time in Bradenton saw him total nine homers with 26 stolen bases as well. A lot of players in their first season typically spend the whole year in Low-A or at least most of it, but it became clear very quickly that Griffin would not be there for very long.
Last year, the Pirates drafted high schooler Konnor Griffin No. 9 overall. Now, he’s MLB’s Number 1 prospect pic.twitter.com/JkJ72g2Ozz
— MLB (@MLB) July 25, 2025
On June 10, Griffin was promoted to High-A, and has not slowed down at all since joining the Grasshoppers. So far his time in Greensboro has been very successful, as he’s batting .313/.424./.478 with four homers and 18 stolen bases in 31 games. He was named the player of the week in the South Atlantic League, and was named to the National League Futures Team during the All-Star break.
Griffin really is a true five-tool talent. He has a total of 44 steals on the season and has shown to move well both offensively on the base pads, and defensively as a 6’4” shortstop. His 13 homers so far shows he has pop, that will develop further as he adds weight and muscle to his frame. He also hits incredibly well for average and strikes out at just a 21 percent clip. His arm strength has been on display all season long as well, and his defensive prowess makes him a threat at short or in the outfield.
Quite the first day as MLB’s No. 1 prospect!
Konnor Griffin (@Pirates) collects four hits and swipes two bags — 44 total on the season — for the High-A @GSOHoppers: pic.twitter.com/pTEkKNJw8t
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) July 25, 2025
The Pirates seem to have picked a once in a generation type of position player, as there is no prospect with a brighter future right now than Konnor Griffin.