Konnor Griffin Joins Rare Power-Speed Club With 20-40 Season

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Konnor Griffin (Photo by Diamond Images via Getty Images)

Two years ago, Brewers prospect Jackson Chourio hit 22 home runs and stole 44 bases as a 19-year-old in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Prior to that, just three teenagers since 1963 had shown that level of power and speed proficiency by going 20-40 in a minor league season.

Now, a fifth teenager has joined the 20-40 club, and one aspect of his background differentiates him from the others. 

Baseball America No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin hit 21 home runs and stole 65 bases in 122 games this season. The 19-year-old shortstop was promoted to Double-A Altoona in mid August after mastering Low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro.

The Pirates drafted Griffin ninth overall in 2024 out of Jackson Preparatory School in Flowood, Miss., where he had been named BA High School Player of the Year. He slipped down the draft board based on lingering concern about how his hit tool would play in a pro setting.

That concern rings hollow today. Griffin has batted .333/.415/.527 in his first 563 pro plate appearances. At the conclusion of the Double-A season, he ranked fifth in the minor league batting race, eighth in steals and ninth with a .944 OPS. 

While Griffin isn’t the first teen prospect to reach 20 homers and 40 steals in a season, he is the first drafted player to reach those thresholds. The other four signed internationally, three of them from Venezuela. 

Standout Power-Speed Teenagers

Braves prospect Andruw Jones hit 25 homers and stole 56 bases for Low-A Macon in 1995. He was an 18-year-old center fielder who had signed out of Curacao in 1993. Jones was also the founding member of the 20-40 club for teenagers.

The next three teenagers to reach 20-40 were all Venezuelan outfielders: the Mets’ Alex Escobar in 1998, the Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2017 and the Brewers’ Jackson Chourio in 2023. 

Griffin joined them this season. Here are all five power-speed teens, where PSN is power-speed number:  

playeryearagelevelhrsbavgobpslgpsnAndruw Jones199518A2556.278.372.51234.6Alex Escobar199819A2749.310.393.58434.8Ronald Acuña Jr.2017193 LVL2144.325.374.52228.4Jackson Chourio2023192 LVL2244.283.338.46729.3Konnor Griffin2025193 LVL2165.333.415.52731.7

Acuña and Chourio played at multiple levels in their 20-40 seasons, just as Griffin has done this year. Jones and Escobar played at Low-A only.

Griffin becoming the first drafted player to go 20-40 as a teenager—or in his case 20-60—seems like an oddity. 

Numerous first-round high school players before Griffin had ample power and speed, from Byron Buxton, Andrew McCutchen and Mike Trout in the 21st century to No. 1 overall picks Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and Darryl Strawberry in the late 20th century.

None of those players went 20-40 in the minors before turning 20. Though, to be fair to Griffey and A-Rod, they reached the big leagues as teenagers.

What makes Griffin different?

One possible explanation: Player development, strength-and-conditioning and overall skills training are more streamlined today than they were even a decade ago, helping prospects realize their power at earlier ages. 

From the list of first-round, power-speed preps above, here are those players’ home run totals as 19-year-olds:

• Alex Rodriguez: 20 (15 at Triple-A and five in MLB)
• Andrew McCutchen: 17
• Ken Griffey Jr.: 16 (as Mariners rookie in 1989)
• Darryl Strawberry: 13
• Byron Buxton: 12
• Mike Trout: 11

Speedy Acclimation To Pro Ball

Griffin finished with 21 homers this season. That in and of itself is not a rare feat for a teenager. There are more than 150 teenagers since 1963 who have hit 20 or more in a minor league season. 

What sets Griffin’s season apart is his blending of speed with that power. Even if we lower the thresholds to 20 homers and 30 steals, just three other drafted players have reached those marks as teen minor leaguers since 1963.

Dan Hirsch of Baseball-Reference confirms that list to be: Chili Davis in 1979, Corey Patterson in 1999 and Delmon Young in 2005. All three were drafted players who went 20-30 as teenagers in the minors.

Griffin finished with 65 steals. While it’s true that recent rules changes have boosted stolen base attempts and successes dramatically, even if we were to scale back Griffin’s stolen-base takeoff rate when he reaches first base by 20%, he would still top 40 stolen bases with ease this season. 

In other words, it would be unfair to view Griffin’s incredible season as a creation of “stolen baseflation.”

So, what makes Griffin’s power-speed exploits so rare for a drafted player? It may come down to prior pro experience. High school players are typically drafted at age 18 and then make their full-season debuts as 19-year-olds.  

A player who signs internationally can begin playing in pro games at age 17. For example, Escobar, Acuña and Chourio had already logged two pro seasons—and received all the extra instruction that entails—before their age-19 seasons. Jones differs in that he had only one pro season in Rookie ball prior to his epic 1995 season as an 18-year-old. 

Griffin had zero pro experience before Opening Day this year, which is typical for high school draftees. Even those who sign quickly out of the draft and report to an affiliate can log about a month of pro experience. Back before the pandemic, in the days of the earlier June draft and six total short-season leagues, a high school draftee could really only play for about two months.

That helps prepare draftees for a full minor league season, but it’s not the same as international signees having as many as two pro seasons before their age-19 campaigns.

Now that Griffin has set a new bar for draftees, it will be interesting to see if others join him in the years ahead.