PHOENIX — Pittsburgh Pirates phenom Konnor Griffin stepped to the plate Tuesday night and ripped a 110.1 mph laser high off the wall in center at Chase Field, cruising into second base for a double at the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Arizona manager Torey Lovullo’s jaw dropped almost to the dugout floor.
“Twenty years old and driving the ball off the center field wall,” Lovullo said. “Let’s go back to being 20 years old. I was just getting hair under my armpits, and this guy’s in a big league baseball game. It’s impressive.”
Griffin — who just turned 20 a few weeks ago — is part of class of Major League Baseball rookies who have made an instant impact over the first month-plus of the season. He entered Friday batting .256 with two home runs and 16 RBIs and was 8-for-8 on stolen-base attempts, all while playing shortstop at a high level for a 21-17 team.
No wonder the Pirates were comfortable handing him a $140 million, nine-year deal in April.