Konnor Griffin remembers slumping over in his hotel room in Daytona, Fla., a couple months ago after his second professional game with low Class A Bradenton. 

The Pirates’ first pick in the 2024 Major League Baseball draft had gone 0 for 4 with four strikeouts and an error against the Reds’ affiliate. As a player who'd been named the 2024 National Gatorade Player of the Year, who was rated the top high school player in his draft class, this was unfamiliar territory. Griffin was used to being the best player on the field every time he crossed the white lines.

He recalled thinking, “This hasn’t happened to me in a long time,” as he'd tell me on this Wednesday afternoon in Greenville, S.C., where high Class A Greensboro was about to play the Red Sox's affiliate. 

“I was just thinking, this is going to be a real grind, and I’m really going to have to take every day and learn how to get better and learn how to grow as a player. It really kind of humbled me just to know that everybody is good. That helped me grow as a player and learn never to take anything for granted.” 

Through his first 58 games, Griffin’s ability to learn is the one thing, above all, that has stood out to those around him. His natural athleticism, power and speed are all plus attributes. At age 19 but already 6-4, 225 pounds, he's built more like an NFL tight end than a slick-fielding shortstop. But in a game built around how even the best of the best must adapt following failure, being able to learn from it is often the separator.

After that four-strikeout game, Griffin slashed .338/.396/.536 with a .932 OPS in 50 games for Bradenton. His average, slugging percentage and OPS still lead the Florida State League, along with his 70 hits and 49 runs scored. He also had nine home runs, 10 doubles, two triples and 36 RBIs.

Eight days ago, he earned his promotion to Greensboro and, since then, he's slashed .389/.404/.560 with a .964 OPS, two home runs, five doubles and nine RBIs, already claiming his first South Atlantic League player of the week. He went 2 for 5 tonight to extend a 13-game hitting streak that stretches back to Bradenton.

GREG MACAFEE / DKPS

Konnor Griffin watches a ball fly into right field Tuesday night in Greenville, S.C.

It hasn't been perfect. Blake Butler, Greensboro's manager, recalled Griffin being picked off second base in his first game as a Grasshopper last week in Rome, Ga. Griffin had doubled in his fourth at-bat before the Emperors’ pitcher, Ryan Bourassa, nailed him with an inside move.

At that moment, Butler wondered what Griffin would do next. 

Would he shut down and be more conservative on the basepaths? 

Or would he learn from the mistake and move forward? 

Over the next five games, Butler found out: Griffin stole six more bases and wasn’t caught again until Tuesday's game. 

“A lot of times you come across kids that are talented, but they struggle with failure and struggle building on failure and getting better from it because they're just so used to dominating, which he surely dominated his entire amateur career,” Butler said. “But he’s gotten here and when he's had moments where he makes mistakes or makes an error, he’s able to learn from that almost instantly. You can almost see him learning in real time, which is a special gift for anyone to have, much less somebody who's as gifted as he is.” 

Gifted?

Baseball America had him at No. 26 on its most recent overall prospect rankings. MLB Pipeline had him at No. 34. A pace like the current one, based on industry precedent, will have him in the top 10 in no time.

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Heading into the draft, Griffin received one consistent piece of criticism: Would he be able to hit professional pitching? 

Of the sport's fabled five tools – hit, power, run, field and arm – Griffin’s hit tool was his lowest. Analysts questioned his hitting ability after performances throughout the summer leading into his senior year. So far, he’s blown such criticisms to bits by batting .346 with a .964 OPS spanning two levels in this, his first season of professional ball. 

But really, that began in his junior year of high school. 

In his final at-bat of the regular season, he hit a home run in a 7-0 win over Jackson Academy in Mississippi and dislocated his left shoulder, preventing him from hitting in the playoffs that season. 

“He went into that summer and did eight weeks of therapy and rehab on that shoulder,” Kevin Griffin, Konnor's dad, told me. “So he couldn’t swing going into the big summer events.” 

Griffin didn’t take a real swing that summer until a tournament at the USA Complex in Cary, N.C., and it wasn't pretty. Kevin remembered that Konnor would put the bat on his shoulder and wrap it around his head before swinging to try to compensate for the pain associated with his injury. 

A few weeks later, he attended the East Coast Pro Showcase in Hoover, Ala., with other top rising high school seniors from the eastern United States, selected exclusively by Major League Baseball scouts. The struggle persisted through the first four days, before Konnor decided to simply let it loose and stop worrying about the shoulder.

The result: 4 for 4. 

Then more success at the USA Trials in California.

Then more hits in a tournament in Taiwan.

Griffin's adamant he's always brushed off criticism, but the dig-out wasn't done: He worked further on his swing this offseason with his dad and his personal hitting coach, Josh Demoney of Grit Training in Flowood, Miss. He wanted to be shorter to the ball, allowing him to keep up with higher velocity and consistently barrel up pitches.

GREG MACAFEE / DKPS

Konnor Griffin prepares for a pitch Tuesday night at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.

On top of that, he worked with former big-leaguers Mark DeRosa and Brian McCann, whom he met through his agent, Joey Devine of Excel Sports Management. 

Next, at last, was the real deal. He recalled thinking he came into the Pirates' big-league camp in Bradenton, Fla., in a good spot. He had two hits, including a home run, in his first five at-bats before going hitless in his final six and being sent to minor-league camp. 

That affirmed, once with the Class A Marauders, his focus flipped to his approach, mostly because he felt he'd been too aggressive out of the leadoff spot. So, he started seeing more pitches. He saw 3.66 per plate appearance in Bradenton and has averaged 3.83 with Greensboro. He credited Bradenton hitting coach Quentin Brown for the push.

“They wanted me to be a little more patient,” Griffin said. “At times, go after the first pitch, but just try to see some pitches for the team and be more of a team guy that way. So, been working on that and I think it’s helped me in my ABs longer down the road, like throughout the game. I’m being more patient and trying to pick out the perfect pitch for me and I feel like it’s been good.” 

It has. All of it. Griffin has a 7% walk rate and a 32-of-36 steals ratio while also showing his bat speed, his extraordinary raw power for the level and pretty much anything else.

In his fourth at-bat here Tuesday, after a 1-1 count, he laid off two straight pitches barely below the zone, then pounced on a middle-middle offering to really square it up. The outcome was a groundout to second base, but that’s the process Butler and his staff are far more interested in seeing. 

“As an offensive player, you want to do damage. You take pride in hitting the ball hard and doing things for your team,” Butler said. “But it’s just understanding how beneficial a walk is to the team and certainly being in a leadoff position, getting on base is a huge part of it, especially with his speed and his base-stealing ability. So, him being able to continue to control the zone and take those tough pitches down, the sliders that start at the bottom and look really good and end up being balls and just flipping counts your way.”

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Butler didn’t get a chance to work with Griffin much at spring training in Bradenton, but he remembers talking with Chris Truby, the Pirates’ infield coordinator who recently was promoted to Don Kelly’s staff in Pittsburgh, a few days into camp. To that point, Griffin’s future in the field was undetermined. He had either pitched or played shortstop for his high school team -- Jackson Prep in Flowood, Miss. -- but had also played the outfield for other teams. With his speed and athleticism, one might think his natural hit would be roaming the outfield but he took a few people by surprise in Bradenton. 

“I think two days in, I remember Truby saying, ‘Man, this kid can really play shortstop. I think it’s there,’ ” Butler said. 

“We decided to give it a shot at short and see that play out a bit," Ben Cherington said. "We didn't really know. We know he's a good athlete and the defense at short has exceeded expectations, to the point where we believe he's a shortstop."

GREG MACAFEE / DKPS

Konnor Griffin calls off teammates to field a pop-up Tuesday night at Fluor Field.

Griffin spent most of his time at shortstop with Bradenton, but also played two four-game stretches in center field. He hasn’t played a different position for Greensboro and is perfect on 31 chances while turning five double plays. His athleticism, arm strength and speed are the perfect package as he can get to balls that most can’t and can make all of the throws. 

But, even as he admitted, he still has a long way to go. During his high school career, Griffin said he was just “playing” the position and “being an athlete.” Now, he’s actually learning all that's required, where he needs to be in certain situations and how to line himself up for relays.

"I feel like I’m a lot more comfortable than I was back in spring training. It’s just experience, getting out there every day. I’m just trying to be an athlete, field the ball and make the plays. Whether I’m in center or at short, I’m going to do that and try to make outs."

Tuesday, he covered a lot of ground to track a ball in foul territory, in addition to taking command of the infield on a few instances to reel in pop-ups near the mound. 

“He just continues to work on little things, working on throwing on the run, throwing from different arm angles,” Butler said. “Shortstop is a really challenging position to play. You have the longest throw, you have to be everywhere on the field, so there’s a lot of nuance to the position that I still think he’s learning. But, as I said, as someone that’s been able to learn quickly, it’s a perfect place for him to be.”

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Griffin received his first college offer while in eighth grade, and the recruitment ramped way up from there. However, Kevin will attest that he felt his son might have a future in baseball when he was 12 years old and hit 57 home runs over a year while playing in tournaments spanning Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana.  

“When I saw him barreling up the ball and how it was just jumping off his bat, you just didn’t see the frequency of that with anyone else,” Kevin said. “We played some really good tournaments and he always found ways to barrel balls up. So that was when I knew that we better get ready for him to have a lot of attention.”

In high school, he hit .472 as a freshman, reclassified as a sophomore, going from being one of the oldest in his class to the youngest, then hit .537 as a junior and .559 as a senior with nine home runs, 39 RBIs and 85 stolen bases. 

GREG MACAFEE / DKPS

Konnor Griffin waits for his turn in batting practice Tuesday at Fluor Field in Greenville, S.C.

The trajectory hasn't changed, presumably because the want-to hasn't, either.

At the Grasshoppers' batting practice here today, Griffin was the only player in the infield looking for extra grounders while teammate Randy Labaut threw a live batting practice. And when he wasn't out there kicking up dirt, he was spending time in the clubhouse scouring pitching reports, developing a hitting gameplan for that night and getting any other extra edges he could.

“It’s always been a characteristic of mine,” he'd say of the commitment to keep growing. “I know I’m not in the Hall of Fame yet. I still have a long way to go. I’m not even in the big leagues. So every day, I’m just learning, whether it's from my teammates or these great coaches. There’s always something to learn, a way to get better, and I try to take that approach everywhere I go.”