Pirates' Konnor Griffin Reveals Biggest Challenge in Major League Baseball

(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)

Making his Major League Baseball debut at just 19 years old, Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin definitely had a lot of pressure on him to come out and succeed at a very high level.

Not only was he viewed as the top prospect in Major League Baseball, but also as someone who could come to Pittsburgh and make an immediate impact on this organization. Throughout the first month or so of his big league career, Griffin has definitely seen how difficult it is to play at this level, but he really seems to be figuring things out on both sides of the baseball.

Day in and day out, even if he isn't showing that offensively, there definitely seem to be some improvements. On the year, he's hitting .248 with three home runs, nine stolen bases, and 19 RBIs. The only concerning stat so far is that he's struck out 40 times compared to 11 walks, but again, this kid just turned 20 years old less than a month ago.

Speaking to reporters, Griffin is saying everything that most people have seen. He spoke a lot about how the first few weeks of the year were difficult for him, but he's starting to understand that he needs to quickly flush each and every bad game he has and worry about his next game.

“The first few weeks, I had some success but there were some struggle,” Griffin told the Post-Gazette. “... Texas was a time where I sat down and I was really frustrated. Luckily, went to Milwaukee and had a little different adjustment in the box and was able to start seeing things click a little bit.”

Griffin later added that each level in the minor leagues comes with its own challenges. To go to the big leagues is a completely different story, as some players believe this is the biggest disparity between Triple-A and the big leagues that we've ever seen.

Griffin only played in five games at the Triple-A level throughout his entire minor league career, so for him to come up and do what he's doing already is just flat-out ridiculous.