Don Kelly's Comments About Konnor Griffin Are a Bit Unfair
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ decision to send top prospect Konnor Griffin to the minors wasn’t an easy decision, as it was one that took a lot of thought inside the organization. For a player widely viewed as the future of the franchise, with Paul Skenes, there had to be a tough decision made. Skipper Don Kelly made that clear when addressing the decision, talking about the difficulty of the move and the organization's continued belief in Griffin’s long-term outlook.
“Extremely difficult," Kelly said , per SportsNet. "When you’re talking about a kid in big league camp, playing shortstop for the first time. He was here last year.
The talent that you see, I think he handled himself really well, professionally. We talked about the maturity level as a 19-year old in big league camp and really excited about him being a Pirate and what that means for the future of Konnor Griffin and the Pirates. ” “Absolutely nothing he did wrong," Kelly added.
"He’s a true pro. I mean look at today, scoring from second on that ball and finding a way to score. I think that you see a young kid that was, maybe pressing just a little bit and trying really hard and just Konnor Griffin the person is elite and allowing him to go and get back to basics and being Konnor Griffin out there.
"We know that there’s an elite talent level that comes with him, and just looking to him being in Pittsburgh whenever that time comes. " The issue here is that this wasn’t about Griffin failing to perform. In fact, the Pirates were encouraged by how he handled himself in a big league environment.