Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Konnor Griffin will start the season at Triple-A, and the team's general manager explains why.
Konnor Griffin showed flashes of being the star many believe he’ll be during the Pittsburgh Pirates' Spring Training.
But in the end, the team ultimately decided against having him join the big-league roster heading into Opening Day, and instead reassigned him to Minor League camp, where he’ll start the 2026 regular season.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington talked to the media earlier in the week and explained the organization’s decision to have Griffin start the season in the minors
“Coming into Spring Training, we weren’t closed off to the idea [of Griffin being on the Opening Day roster],” admitted Cherington.
The Pirates executive reiterated that the organization believes that Griffin can be a star in Major League Baseball for a long time, but it’s still Pittsburgh’s responsibility to help him develop to reach that potential.
The team felt that more time in the Minors was what Griffin needed to get to that point.
“Whatever we can to help him be ready for the start of what we think can be a really long career. Just ended up feeling like a little time in the minor leagues was what was could be best for him to start the season,” explained Cherington.
Mar 1, 2026; Jupiter, Florida, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin (75) celebrates after hitting a two-run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the first inning at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn ImagesDuring Griffin’s lone Minor League season in 2025, he registered a .333/.415/.527 slash line, including 48 extra base hits, 21 of those being home runs. The prospect finished his time at Big League camp this spring with a .705 OPS.
Even though the 19-year-old will begin the season in the Minors, Cherington didn’t rule out an MLB debut in 2026.
“Once you're there [at Triple-A], the prospect label sort of goes away we think about it in terms of winning games at the major league level. How do we how do we do that?,” said the executive. “Every player is different. Every path is going to be a little bit different and we need to be careful with that, but we'll see what happens.”
Even though Griffin is 19 years old, he’s checked off almost every single box in his development and what he needs to do to warrant a big league call-up.
Clearly, the Pirates still think starting the season in the Minors is the best for him, but it wouldn’t be surprising in the slightest if the No. 1 prospect in MLB is at the big league level shortly after the season begins.
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