He is probably in the category of potential prospect. He has hit well, and with power. He's young for the league, but I am not sure that matters for him, as there isn't much room for physical development. (In fact, there is some worry that he will go in the other direction - they need to keep him out of the pancake places). He's got a great arm and seems to be adequate behind the plate. The other things like handling pitchers and framing are unknowns. He's a long way from the majors and there seems to be a lot of attrition at the position, but it is hard to find anything wrong at this point. Oddly, the Pirates seem to currently have a lot of catching prospects, after a long period without one.
I understand the point about staying out of the pancake house, his power is already legit. Just guessing but other than Cruz, he probably is up there with anyone in the system with 105+mph in play contact.
I think he is, his breakout this year looks real. Swing and miss down, hits the ball hard, catching more games, extra base power starting to show more often. If he keeps this up a promotion should be sooner rather than later.
He’s been a legit prospect since he was 16! Which means he is a potential major leaguer. I’m not sure what the distinction would be between “prospect” and “potential prospect”, at least in his case. I don’t understand the stance about “no room to grow”. He already has power in his arm and his bat. The fields are all the same size. Is he a surefire starter in the big leagues? Of course not, but he totally is a legit prospect.
Yep, I think he's moving into the organizations top 10 if not league wide top hundred if he keeps the swing and miss down while continuing to crush 100mph+ rockets. Especially if a bunch start going over the fence.
OK, but seriously, there's no way Griffin spends all year in Bradenton, right? The only question should be whether he gets promoted in early July or mid-August.
If he keeps improving on his K rate, he'll get moved up. Last week he only had 13% K rate but in the previous five games he had a 36% K rate.
Tallying his PAs, one thing that jumped out is that he hasn't taken a walk in 15 games. I'm surprised pitchers are giving him anything to hit, or maybe he's just that good that he can hit pitches out of the zone. But that would likely catch up to him as he advances levels.
On the walk thing -- I've thought for a long time that hitters who are inexperienced but really good sometimes, at the lower levels, discover, "Hey, I can hit these jokers," and they just want to, y'know, hit. Griffin may be in that sort of mindset now. He's noticeably less patient than he was at the beginning of the season, but he's also hitting a lot more balls hard. He looked kinda tentative at times earlier and he doesn't now, and that's a good thing. (See 2025 vs. pre-2025 Braylon Bishop for an example.)
A guy with his talent may actually need to face better competition in order to start finding the right balance. So, no, he doesn't need to go anywhere now, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of a promotion later, either.
I love guys that draw walks and control the strike zone but the bottom line on hitting is the ability to hit the ball. That’s what I want to see first and foremost, Good hitters often develop plate discipline as they mature. Good insight by WTM as usual.
This is why I love the BoD comment section. Twitter and most other places suck, and have such simple minded responses. Griffin has a four-hit day and people just wanna ship him to Pittsburgh.
You all here see past that and see actual baseball stuff.
I tell Nola all the time that I have the best BASEBALL conversations with people on here, and that just makes me so happy.
Because you hit the nail on the head as to why I'm still not ready to talk promotion yet. And if I am ready for him to get promoted, it'll never be because of his baseline stats.
Plate discipline still needs work, only 1 walk after his first 10 games. His swing mechanics do come and go, mainly on change up and sliders when he gets out infront and doesn't hold his back leg or hip from opening (the good thing he has shown adjustments, the linedrive homer to right comes to mind).
If the strikeouts keep going down, walks increase and he keeps hitting the ball hard for a month or so then I'd move him up. A bit of a tough call because I wouldn't want to rush him but also wouldn't want to hold him back.
I’ve seen enough from Griffin on the videos to be cautiously optimistic. He does drive breaking stuff on occasion. In other words, he’s not Elijah Green, who has similar physical tools. But he’s got a long way to go. He’s in full season ball at age 19 and is slugging over .500 in a league notorious for suppressing offense. And playing outstanding defense. That’s good enough for me for now.
I think he's doing awesome and showing the ability to adjust. I think his actual contact ability is way higher than expected. He mainly needs to keep zeroing in on the strike zone (with his speed walking is almost as good as a double). I actually think he could have a plus hit tool maybe better, just needs the experience.
Seems doubtful for the way they've managed hitters under GMBC.
Also, I'd let Rivas cook for a while. This is the first time he's looked like a potential stud. I like him getting the K rate down and the ISO up, but it would be nice to see the BB rate improve a bit.
There's a lot to like, but it hasn't been backed by a large enough sample size relative to prior assumptions about Rivas.
Both have already earned their promotions and the franchise has other concerns with players who have gone well beyond what could be expected. For example, Esmerlyn Valdez has already earned a promotion from A+ to AA. 21 years of age - 5 months older than Termarr Johnson and at A+ his slash is 314/385/579/964 OPS. That comes from 8 doubles and 8 HR in only 121 AB, 28 RBI's, 13 BB/37 K which is 9.6%/27.4%. The K rate is higher than wanted, but the 579 Slugging percentage more than makes up for that. He's a LH hitting primary outfielder (RF/LF) and also has games at DH and 1B.
I don't like looking at OPS when it comes to potential promotions. On the list of things to watch, it's so far down at the bottom that so many other things come into play by then.
From those I talked to in the game, that's a general consensus as well.
What's Plaz's outlook? Is he a real prospect or the potential to be one?
He is probably in the category of potential prospect. He has hit well, and with power. He's young for the league, but I am not sure that matters for him, as there isn't much room for physical development. (In fact, there is some worry that he will go in the other direction - they need to keep him out of the pancake places). He's got a great arm and seems to be adequate behind the plate. The other things like handling pitchers and framing are unknowns. He's a long way from the majors and there seems to be a lot of attrition at the position, but it is hard to find anything wrong at this point. Oddly, the Pirates seem to currently have a lot of catching prospects, after a long period without one.
I mean I stood next to him within the last couple of days and can confirm that his size has nothing to do with too many pancakes.
Kid is ripped. That's muscle up there.
I understand the point about staying out of the pancake house, his power is already legit. Just guessing but other than Cruz, he probably is up there with anyone in the system with 105+mph in play contact.
I think he is, his breakout this year looks real. Swing and miss down, hits the ball hard, catching more games, extra base power starting to show more often. If he keeps this up a promotion should be sooner rather than later.
He’s been a legit prospect since he was 16! Which means he is a potential major leaguer. I’m not sure what the distinction would be between “prospect” and “potential prospect”, at least in his case. I don’t understand the stance about “no room to grow”. He already has power in his arm and his bat. The fields are all the same size. Is he a surefire starter in the big leagues? Of course not, but he totally is a legit prospect.
Yep, I think he's moving into the organizations top 10 if not league wide top hundred if he keeps the swing and miss down while continuing to crush 100mph+ rockets. Especially if a bunch start going over the fence.
OK, but seriously, there's no way Griffin spends all year in Bradenton, right? The only question should be whether he gets promoted in early July or mid-August.
If he keeps improving on his K rate, he'll get moved up. Last week he only had 13% K rate but in the previous five games he had a 36% K rate.
Tallying his PAs, one thing that jumped out is that he hasn't taken a walk in 15 games. I'm surprised pitchers are giving him anything to hit, or maybe he's just that good that he can hit pitches out of the zone. But that would likely catch up to him as he advances levels.
If they handle him like Termarr, then he'll move up in late August.
On the walk thing -- I've thought for a long time that hitters who are inexperienced but really good sometimes, at the lower levels, discover, "Hey, I can hit these jokers," and they just want to, y'know, hit. Griffin may be in that sort of mindset now. He's noticeably less patient than he was at the beginning of the season, but he's also hitting a lot more balls hard. He looked kinda tentative at times earlier and he doesn't now, and that's a good thing. (See 2025 vs. pre-2025 Braylon Bishop for an example.)
A guy with his talent may actually need to face better competition in order to start finding the right balance. So, no, he doesn't need to go anywhere now, but I wouldn't discount the possibility of a promotion later, either.
I love guys that draw walks and control the strike zone but the bottom line on hitting is the ability to hit the ball. That’s what I want to see first and foremost, Good hitters often develop plate discipline as they mature. Good insight by WTM as usual.
Agreed, plate discipline and swing mechanics are what still give me pause.
Maybe he needs the push to failure to continue developing, but baseline stats aren't really telling the story for me.
This is why I love the BoD comment section. Twitter and most other places suck, and have such simple minded responses. Griffin has a four-hit day and people just wanna ship him to Pittsburgh.
You all here see past that and see actual baseball stuff.
I tell Nola all the time that I have the best BASEBALL conversations with people on here, and that just makes me so happy.
Because you hit the nail on the head as to why I'm still not ready to talk promotion yet. And if I am ready for him to get promoted, it'll never be because of his baseline stats.
I kept reading, "Now that he's moved to the outfield . . . ." Maybe now it'll be, "Now that he's been promoted . . . ."
I actually like the 2 to 3 weeks at short, then a week in center, then repeat.
If he can handle those positions, he will find a place on the roster as soon as his bat is ready, even if it's left field.
This is why you draft the best 'athletes' who are generally at SS anyways. If they can play SS at a high level, they can generally translate anywhere.
Plate discipline still needs work, only 1 walk after his first 10 games. His swing mechanics do come and go, mainly on change up and sliders when he gets out infront and doesn't hold his back leg or hip from opening (the good thing he has shown adjustments, the linedrive homer to right comes to mind).
If the strikeouts keep going down, walks increase and he keeps hitting the ball hard for a month or so then I'd move him up. A bit of a tough call because I wouldn't want to rush him but also wouldn't want to hold him back.
I’ve seen enough from Griffin on the videos to be cautiously optimistic. He does drive breaking stuff on occasion. In other words, he’s not Elijah Green, who has similar physical tools. But he’s got a long way to go. He’s in full season ball at age 19 and is slugging over .500 in a league notorious for suppressing offense. And playing outstanding defense. That’s good enough for me for now.
He has similar tools to a kid who's pushing a 50% K rate? Oof.
I think he's doing awesome and showing the ability to adjust. I think his actual contact ability is way higher than expected. He mainly needs to keep zeroing in on the strike zone (with his speed walking is almost as good as a double). I actually think he could have a plus hit tool maybe better, just needs the experience.
I just hope he’s getting the coaching he needs. Based on the Pirates track record of developing hitters, I have my doubts.
Perhaps, you promote Griffin and move Javier Rivas to Altoona mid-June if both continue to do well?
Seems doubtful for the way they've managed hitters under GMBC.
Also, I'd let Rivas cook for a while. This is the first time he's looked like a potential stud. I like him getting the K rate down and the ISO up, but it would be nice to see the BB rate improve a bit.
There's a lot to like, but it hasn't been backed by a large enough sample size relative to prior assumptions about Rivas.
Both have already earned their promotions and the franchise has other concerns with players who have gone well beyond what could be expected. For example, Esmerlyn Valdez has already earned a promotion from A+ to AA. 21 years of age - 5 months older than Termarr Johnson and at A+ his slash is 314/385/579/964 OPS. That comes from 8 doubles and 8 HR in only 121 AB, 28 RBI's, 13 BB/37 K which is 9.6%/27.4%. The K rate is higher than wanted, but the 579 Slugging percentage more than makes up for that. He's a LH hitting primary outfielder (RF/LF) and also has games at DH and 1B.
I don't like looking at OPS when it comes to potential promotions. On the list of things to watch, it's so far down at the bottom that so many other things come into play by then.
From those I talked to in the game, that's a general consensus as well.