Pirates’ Konnor Griffin gets bad news on Rookie of the Year pursuit originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Pittsburgh Pirates made the unfortunate roster move recently of placing Konnor Griffin on the injured list, as the 20-year-old rookie will miss some time this season.
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He was having a good rookie season and had been heating up right before landing on the injured list. This injury issue isn’t a big problem long-term for Griffin, but it might bring some bad news to his career accolades.
As Johnny Flores of The Athletic notes amid his Brandon Lowe Silver Slugger projection, the odds for Griffin to win the NL Rookie of the Year award took a big hit with this IL placement, and he’s no longer likely to win this accolade.
“Let me preface this by saying, Konnor Griffin will almost certainly get down-ballot Rookie of the Year votes…” Flores writes.
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This comment from Flores, amid calling Lowe and the NL Silver Slugger the Pirates’ most likely top awards candidate this season, doesn’t bode well for Griffin to win the NL Rookie of the Year award.
It’s unfortunate, as Griffin, before landing on the injured list, had 1.6 bWAR with a .270 batting average, four homers, 51 hits, 30 runs scored, nine doubles, two triples, 22 RBIs, 14 stolen bases, 14 walks, and a .729 OPS in 51 games and across 189 at-bats.
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While those numbers might not be enough to win the NL Rookie of the Year award over JJ Wetherholt, if he were healthy, he would have a much more legitimate chance of winning the award than he does now.
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By calling Lowe and his NL Silver Slugger pursuit the most likely award for the Pirates to win this season indicates that Griffin’s Rookie of the Year bid is likely over.
For as promising as Griffin has looked this season, the odds of him winning the Rookie of the Year award after a stint on the injured list are slim, especially with how good Wetherholt has been in 2026.
