PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s the reason the Pirates give for calling up Konnor Griffin and it’s the same as to why his teammates embrace him.
He can help them win.
You could imagine a 19-year-old with all of that hype might bring different reactions from veterans or other rookies. By all accounts, he fit into the locker room immediately.
Why?
“He's a teammate first, he cares about other people, he is extremely talented, and he wants to win,” said Pirates manager Don Kelly. “And he's willing to do whatever it is every single day to win, and I think that the men in that room, that's all they care about, is bringing in people that care about winning.”
“This team is loaded,” Griffin said Friday. “I get to come in here and just be a piece of this puzzle. There’s a lot of guys on this roster that are doing great things already for this team. I’m just thankful to join the group and try to contribute myself. These guys are warriors and ready to win games and I’m ready to do the same thing.”
The 19-year-old said his years of training have prepared him for this moment. He trusts his process and doesn’t get too high or too low.
“Really just having fun playing this game,” Griffin said. “I thrive when I’m having fun and playing with a lot of energy. Just trying to do that every time I step on the field. It’s worked out for me for sure.”
Right now, the adjustment to professional baseball has been ‘easy’ because he believes he’s ready. He takes it a pitch at a time and doesn’t get ahead of himself. He knows hard times will come, as he put it, there is a lot of failure in baseball. At 19, he said he embraces that adversity, and then celebrates the success in overcoming whatever issues arise.
Griffin said in the excitement of the Home Opener, he was ready to put on a show, as part of a franchise looking to turn around recent trends.
"I think it's great that all the prospect stuff is behind me,” Griffin said. “I'm not worried about that anymore. It's all about winning games here in Pittsburgh and it was fun, the minor league stint was fun. I learned a lot, it was really good for my development the last two years but now it's time to take all the skills that I've learned, all the adjustments I've made, it's time to go put them on the field and go win some games."
LISTEN to Konnor Griffin talk about starting his Pirates career
