Yeah, Griffin wanted to keep playing, but risk too great

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The temptation was there for Pirates rookie Konnor Griffin to lie about his pain or decide he just wanted to play through the injury to the joint of his ring finger. However, the more he learned about it, he just had to suck up his second lengthy absence.

“Yeah, it definitely took me a while to try to make a decision because it was weighing on my heart,” Griffin said before the Pirates-Braves game Wednesday. “I want to be in there. I want to be around these guys. This is a great team. We’re doing some cool things.”

“It was tough, especially just missing a whole month before that.”

“It was the right decision to try to stay away from the surgery side of it.”

Griffin was told by doctors that if he continued to play, every time that sagittal band in his left ring finger stayed loose without protection there was a chance of having a big-time surgery. Every day the risk grew and it not only grew but seemingly exponentially. Doctors said with finger injuries, specifically with surgery, the finger may never be as normal as it is right now. That got Griffin’s attention.

“It’s tough because of the position we’re in,” Griffin said. “I want to be in there and try to help the team win, try to do my part. But it really felt like the right decision was to naturally heal, put it in a splint and see where we were after six weeks.”

Griffin said the injury, on his left ring finger, happened when he dove for a ground ball up the middle in the third inning Sunday in Washington. He said it was something he’s done ‘a thousand times’ and it really felt like his finger was jammed. When he went to the dugout, he realized it was more, but he wanted to stick it out through the rest of that game.

The 20-year-old said he will stay in the best shape he can. He won’t be able to play catch and he can’t swing fully, but he can workout, run and throw and will do that for six weeks and then hopefully be ready sooner than the eight-to-10-week projection.

“It just kind of sucks, just getting back and feeling good,” Griffin said. “I was rolling, then only get to play six games and back to the injured list. It’s a tough time right now but I’m trying to make the most out of it and trying to stay positive.”