For one beautiful day, the Pirates had it all. What an atmosphere on the North Shore and PNC Park today for the home opener and the anticipation to see Konnor Griffin‘s MLB debut. And Griffin and the Pirates delivered to send the fans home happy with a 5-4 victory over the Orioles. Our own Jim Rosati was there and did the postgame show live on the field which you can check out here. And while you’re at it, check out the Konnor Griffin introductory press conference that took place prior the game.
“This place is awesome, let’s keep winning!”
Folks, Konnor Griffin is here and it doesn’t look like he’s leaving anytime soon. Griffin became the first teenager in the Majors since Juan Soto in 2018. He also was the first teenager to take the field for the Pirates since Aramis Ramirez in 1998. Griffin batted 7th today and he didn’t wait long to make an impact on this team. In his first at-bat in the second inning with Ryan O’Hearn on first base, Griffin ripped Kyle Bradish‘s pitch into the gap to the bullpen wall for a standup RBI double to give the Bucs a 1-0 lead. PNC Park was in a frenzy…see for yourself courtesy of Jeff Passan’s tweet.
Bradish started Griffin out with four straight sliders then went with a 1-2 curveball and Konnor deposited it into the gap at 105.8 mph exit velo. Griffin would come around to score in what was a four-run inning, he walked in his next at-bat and then struck out and grounded out in his other two at-bats. Just a wild start to the young man’s career. After the game, SNP’s Hannah Mears interviewed KG on the field and he opened with “This place is awesome, let’s keep winning.” I’m all for that, let’s keep doing that. Just a fun, wild day at the park and a debut that Konnor will never forget.
One thing that gets overlooked because of the offensive numbers he put up last year in the minors and the homers he hit in spring training is that just have Griffin at shortstop which allows Jared Triolo to move over to third base, suddenly that left side of the infield, which was such a question mark to start the year, becomes a strength defensively. Even if his bat doesn’t translate right away (but so far so good), it’s a pretty safe bet to say KG is going to play solid defense at a premium position as well as provide you with speed in the lineup and good base running. Having him on this team is such a plus and that’s before he gives you anything with his 45 hit tool or 55 game power.
The Pirates Could Be Really Good and Not Just This Season
The Pirates are 4-3 and on a three-game winning streak and the season is only one week old, but it’s hard to not be excited about this team. We came into the season knowing that the pitching staff is a strength and they’ve been good, but now this lineup is clicking and it’s not just the new guys. Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds are producing, Griffin is here now…it doesn’t fall on one guy. In recent seasons if the Pirates would scratch out a run or two, you’d be like “well that’s it for the runs tonight” and you’d be correct more than not. This season, they’re adding on throughout the game, not just in one inning. They’re putting guys on base and they have enough power to get a bunch of runs on one swing. It’s early, but it’s remarkable the turnaround of what this offense could do this season compared to last year. We could be in for a really fun summer at PNC Park.
But it’s not just what this team can do this season, it’s the young core, a Griffin extension that could be announced any day and there’s more talent coming. I’m talking Esmerlyn Valdez, Jhostynxon Garcia, Termarr Johnson, Edward Florentino, Seth Hernandez (who just struck out eight in three innings for his debut), Antwone Kelly, Wilber Dotel, Tony Blanco Jr., Brandan Bidois, etc, etc, etc. Usually when prospects like Skenes, Chandler, Ashcraft and Griffin come up, the farm system is bare, but that is far from the case here. Not all prospects develop and become Major League talent but Pirates have a real wealth of talent and mathematically some of these guys will hit or be traded for Major League talent. I’m definitely not an optimist, but the Pirates really look to be set up for the next 3-5 years maybe longer if Griffin is really signing a nine-year extension.
Bullpen Matchups and No Set Closer
The Pirates danced around this topic for the past couple years saying that they were going to play the matchups more with the back end of the bullpen, but they never really fully executed it. Well this season, Don Kelly looks ready to do just that. Today with a 5-3 lead with Dennis Santana, Gregory Soto and Isaac Mattson all available with two innings to go, you’re thinking Kelly will go to Mattson for the 8th and Santana for the 9th. WRONG. Instead, Santana came in to pitch the 8th and of course, he mowed them down 1-2-3 in just 10 pitches. Honestly with him being at just 10 pitches, I thought they may bring him back out to pitch the 9th too, but that was not the plan. In comes the lefty Soto for the 9th. I haven’t heard Kelly’s explanation if this played a role into it, but Gunnar Henderson was due up third in the inning so did they go with Soto in the 9th to get the lefty-lefty matchup versus Henderson? That’s exactly how it played out too, but Gunnar took him deep for a solo home run because he’s a dude but I get the thought behind it.
Soto then had to face Pete Alonso, who’s a good hitter against lefties and Soto struck him out to end the game. It worked out today. It won’t always work out and that’s baseball, but I love this idea that they’re apparently finally putting to practice. Play the matchups. Some games the middle of the order is going to be up in the 8th inning which is a bigger point of the game to that point so go with your best guy there if you want. Don’t be held to tradition that “I have to pitch my closer in the 9th because that’s how it’s always been done!” Screw that. I love the call today and I can’t wait to see how they handle it throughout this season.
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