Pittsburgh Pirates star rookie Konnor Griffin will be out for the foreseeable future with a finger injury.
Konnor Griffin has largely lived up to the hype of being MLB’s No. 1 overall prospect during his rookie season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Not only that, but the organization was relying on the 20-year-old to help it get back to the playoffs for the first time in over a decade.
Now, Griffin faces a long road to recovery to get back on the field after being hit with devastating injury news.
On Tuesday, the Pirates announced that Griffin has been placed on the injured list with a left hand right finger sagittal band injury.
Even though it’s only the 10-day IL, Pittsburgh’s star rookie would be sidelined for quite a while with the injury. Griffin will have the finger splinted for six weeks, and the initial timetable given for his return is eight to ten weeks. That puts a potential return to action in mid-September.
“There was a bunch of options that were discussed and presented to Konnor and the team through the physicians,” said director of sport medicine Todd Tomczyk.
“The best choice is this nonoperative care. Six weeks of splitting mobilization, to make sure that this can properly heal, and then it can return to the high function.”
Jul 5, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin (6) catches a pop up against the Washington Nationals during the seventh inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn ImagesGriffin initially injured his finger while making a diving catch in the fourth inning on Sunday afternoon. Looking back, Griffin did wince after making the catch and was even checked out by Pittsburgh’s medical team.
Yes, Griffin did play through the injury for the final six innings of the game, but Tomczyk stressed that further imaging showed that playing through it could worsen it over time.
What makes this injury much more disappointing for Griffin and the Pirates is that he was only activated off the injured list a week and a half ago after sustaining a forearm injury.
Losing Griffin for this long is a huge blow for the Pirates. He owns a .736 OPS and a 102 wRC+ in the 2026 season. Pittsburgh now needs to figure out who will take over his spot in the lineup and at shortstop for the foreseeable future.
Depending on whether Griffin needs a rehab outing after those 10 weeks and where we are in the postseason race, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Pittsburgh shut him down until the 2027 season.
At this point, the Pirates can only hope that Griffin’s injury rehab doesn’t encounter any unexpected bumps or setbacks.
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