New kid in town: Top prospect Griffin makes his AA debut with Altoona Curve
Eastern League Baseball
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When Konnor Griffin took the field for the Altoona Curve Tuesday night in their 6-5 win over the Reading Fightin' Phils at PNG Field, he made history.
He became the youngest player to ever suit up for the Curve and did so in front of 5,690 fans.
For Altoona manager Andy Fox, his initial message ahead of Griffin's Double-A debut was fairly simple by design.
"Welcome to the team and go do your thing," Fox said.
Griffin took that to heart and singled in his first at bat, then stole second two pitches later and advanced to third on a bad throw.
He also connected on a game-tying sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.
"It was a good day," Griffin said following his debut. "Getting a win is the most important thing so getting that, getting the job done, was awesome. And getting my first taste of Double-A was fun."
His aggressiveness has led to 60 stolen bases across three levels in Minor League Baseball and he's not planning on changing the way he plays just because he's one step closer to Pittsburgh.
"I'm going to keep being aggressive," Griffin said. "Just try to bring a lot of energy and just have fun while I'm out there. It's the same game, but I know these players are all going to be good. And I'm ready to go compete."
Competing is what Griffin has done all season between Bradenton, Greensboro and now Altoona. He hit .332 between the Low A and High A with 41 extra base hits.
"I feel like I've become a more mature player, and that's hitting and on the defensive side," Griffin said. "I just feel like there's been some steps that I've taken that I didn't see myself taking so soon, but it's been good and just enjoying every day, just trying to work."
Climbing three levels in a minor league organization is far from easy over the course of a career, let alone the 101 games it took for Griffin to get the call to Altoona.
"I just tried to stay focused and keep being me every day, stay in the moment in Greensboro, and just try to focus day to day," Griffin said. "I didn't really think about it, but it's pretty cool to see it finally happen."
Griffin will most likely spend the final four weeks of the season with Altoona as the Curve continue their second-half surge and compete for a second-half division title.
"I'm just going to be in the moment, just enjoy being where I'm at and being with these guys, try to go win, win the playoffs, and get home this offseason, take a little break, and then we'll see where I'm at after that," Griffin said.
Fox and his staff are looking forward to having a player of Griffin's caliber join the team for the stretch run.
"It's exciting," Fox said. "I mean, anytime you get a talented player, we have a good group here, and I think just having him blend in and do his thing. The game tells you a lot he's going to get to play here in the next 24 games so we'll see what happens."
Streak extended
Termarr Johnson extended his hitting streak to five games with his hit in the sixth inning. Johnson scored the first run of the game for the Curve in the first inning.
Altoona was able to overcome a four-run Reading third inning as it scored one run a piece in the fourth and fifth innings. The Curve plated two in the sixth to tie the game on Griffin's sac fly.
In the eighth, Duce Gourson hit a single, stole second and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Tres Gonzalez to score the go-ahead run.
"We've been doing that a lot lately," Fox said. "We've been sticking with it, especially in the second half. And I think that's testing these guys and grinding it. They understand what's going on with the standings and things like that. And it's a fun environment, but they're putting forth good at bats and trying to move it along.
Despite the success late, the Curve left eight on and had two runners thrown out at the plate.
Good crowd
With the Pirates announcing the promotion of Griffin ahead of Tuesday's game, the Curve were able to sell an additional 1,500 tickets between the announcement and the start of the game.
Up next
The Curve will send righty Wilber Dotel to the mound to take on Reading tonight. Dotel is 5-7 with a 4.41 ERA on the season.