Konnor Griffin is still on the sideline, but the finish line is coming into view.
The Pirates’ 20-year-old shortstop has been out since July 7 with a torn left ring finger sagittal band, and the next steps are already mapped out. Friday will mark one month since he went on the injured list, and Griffin is due for a check-up around Aug. 17, six weeks after the injury. If that goes as expected, he should head to Pirate City a few days later to start rehab.
He is eligible to come off the 60-day injured list on Sept. 4.
“It's tough just because we're in the thick of it. We're fighting hard, and I can't really help,” Griffin told MLB.com.
“Just have to sit back and watch. But I believe everything happens for a reason, so I'm just trying to stay as ready as I can.
So whenever I'm cleared to go, I can get back as fast as I can.”
For a player who has barely spent any time hurt in his career, this has been a different kind of test. Griffin had never dealt with a hand injury before, and he called the one he suffered against the Nationals on July 5 a “freak deal.”
He dove for a ball up the middle in the third inning, jammed the finger, and kept playing through the discomfort. Even then, he noticed the tendon was loose and crossing his knuckle.
Kevin Griffin said the pain didn’t really hit his son until later that night. After a text exchange following the game, Griffin went for an MRI the next day, and the scan showed a tear. That left him facing a two-month absence, even though there was an option to try to play through it with a greater risk of needing surgery later.
“The aggravating thing was that he did it on a hustle play,” Kevin said. “He's never really experienced a whole lot of injuries before in his life, and to do it because you're going hard and hustling -- that's probably more frustrating to him than anything. Because that's just how he's going to always play the game, is full speed, and he's never going to take a play off.”
Griffin has not been completely idle. He’s spent time deep in the outfield during batting practice, working on agility and sprint drills to stay mobile.
He’s also taken one-handed swings with his top hand, and he’s stood in against the Trajekt machine without swinging just to keep his timing. In the field, he can’t wear a glove, but he is still throwing.
The recovery has required some trial and error. Griffin tried several splints before settling on a black three-fingered one that keeps the ring finger elevated. The injury itself does not bother him much in terms of pain, but the mental side has been tougher.
Griffin missed most of June with a right elbow strain, then returned and played only eight games before getting sidelined again. In that short stretch back, he looked like he was finding his groove at the plate, going 11-for-36 for a .305 average. Now he’s taking the process one day at a time.
“It's getting better,” Griffin said. “This is kind of like a broken bone. You've got to let it heal, so I'm not moving it much outside of the splint.”
His style has always carried some risk, and the early injuries have not changed that outlook.
“The easy answer would be to tone it back, but that's just not in his DNA,” Kevin said.
Kevin, who coaches the DIII powerhouse Belhaven softball, remains Griffin’s “hitting guy.” The two usually talk nearly every night about his at-bats and sometimes go over video, though those conversations have been on hold since the latest injury.
Once Griffin is swinging again, Kevin expects those talks to ramp back up fast. And if the Pirates are in the middle of a postseason push, that would only add more urgency.
“Hopefully everything's looking good for our season, and we're sitting in a good spot, getting ready to make a playoff game,” Griffin said. “That's the goal: to be back, and be ready for that.”
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