In 15 games since being promoted to High-A in Greensborough. Konnor Griffin is putting up monster numbers with the bat. Griffin is hitting .339 with a .444 OBP and a 1.020 in slugging.
Pirates General Manager laid out what has been working for Griffin when he met with the media Saturday afternoon.
"His approach to his first day as a Pirate seemed to be advanced for what you would expect for someone his age. Obviously there is physical ability. To some degree there is some part of his physical ability that I think was under appreciated as an amateur because in some ways you don't have a chance to fully test it as an amateur," said Cherington.
"For example, there was some, if you read industry stuff, there was some question with the bat as an amateur. The way I interpreted that was he's from a small town in Mississippi so of course there is going to be questions. Nobody really knows when you're facing that competition. That's the question. Once he was in pro ball, we could start measuring things more accurately. We now know, his swing is pretty good, he's got bat speed and he's making contact."
Cherington said there was uncertainty where he would play with the Pirates when they drafted him.
"Is it going to be short, is it going to be center, somewhere else? I think there's just not enough sample to know the answer to the question until he gets into Pro Ball. Now he's been able to play shortstop quite a bit and he's passed those tests pretty well. We now have a lot more conviction that he can do it," said Cherington.
Ideally, they want to see Griffin remain at shortstop and play the position as a Pirate in the future.
"We believe he can play shortstop. Short and long term, we have not put any timeline on when it could happen here. He'll tell us that answer over time. But we see him as a shortstop.
Despite the questions and unknowns that Cherington laid out, he said when they chose to draft him, they knew he was the right choice.
"Mostly it was scout input, contact in the summer, bat speed and bat path. Good signal on bat path not proof on it but good signal, made us feel good about taking a bet on it. You still don't know for sure on a high school player until they're in Pro Ball," said Cherington.