On Sunday, while the Pittsburgh Pirates were achieving their first win of the season in their series finale against the New York Mets, their Triple-A affiliate walked away still searching for theirs.
The Indianapolis Indians fell to the St. Paul Saints 4-1 at Victory Field, suffering a sweep at home to open their season.
But if there was a bright spot in the loss for Indianapolis, it was Konnor Griffin. The top prospect in all of baseball made his third start at shortstop with the Indians, where he recorded his first extra-base hit at the Triple-A level.
Griffin opened the game leading off against St. Paul’s Andrew Morris, a 24-year-old who spent all of last season in Triple-A. Griffin popped the ball up to second base, marking the first time this Triple-A campaign that he did not get on base in his opening plate appearance.
Griffin got another chance vs Morris in the third, where the right-hander left a sweeper in the middle of the zone for Griffin to crush 332 feet into left field for a double. It was his first extra-base hit wearing an Indians uniform.
That double pushed Dominic Fletcher to third, who eventually scored for the first (and only) Indians run of the day. Griffin would be stranded at third.
By the time he was back up to bat in the fifth, the Saints had a new right-hander up. Griffin faced 23-year-old John Klein, who split last season between Double-A and Triple-A. Klein attacked Griffin with three straight pitches in the zone, two of which Griffin watched go by. Klein then got him to chase a changeup below the zone for a foul-tip strikeout.
Griffin’s last appearance came in the eighth inning, where he faced off against righty Drew Smith for St. Paul. Smith is one of the most established pitchers Griffin has seen so far during his work with Indianapolis. Smith has pitched in parts of six major league seasons, totaling nearly 200 innings and amassing a 3.48 ERA.
It was even more encouraging to see Griffin best a veteran pitcher like Smith. Griffin swung on the first pitch Smith lobbed at him, a 92.3 mile per hour four-seam fastball that the batter drove towards center field.
Griffin was credited for the double, but decided to press his luck and took off for third as he rounded the middle bag. St. Paul, however, executed a relay that saw center fielder Kyler Fedko throw to shortstop Kaelen Culpepper, who tossed it to third baseman Ryan Kreidler for the tag.
Griffin is now 5-for-10 with one RBI, two stolen bases, two extra-base hits, three walks, and three strikeouts in his first three games with the Indians.
Indianapolis will travel to Columbus (Triple-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians) for a six-game series against the Clippers.
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