Shortstop Konnor Griffin, pitcher Bubba Chandler earn top awards for Pirates prospects

Konnor Griffin developed into the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball and Bubba Chandler into the game’s top pitching prospect, so their status in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization was indisputable.

The Pirates recognized Griffin with their Honus Wagner Player of the Year and Chandler with the Bob Friend Pitcher of the Year minor league awards Thursday, as announced by coaching and player development director Michael Chernow.

The 19-year-old Griffin finished the season ranked first among all full-season Pirates minor leaguers in batting (.333), hits (161), RBIs (94), runs scored (117), OBP (.415), slugging (.527), OPS (.942) and total bases (255).

Griffin finished the season ranked second among all full-season players in the minors in runs scored, ranking fourth in batting, fifth in both hits and total bases, seventh in OPS, tied for seventh in RBIs and eighth in stolen bases. His 65 steals were the most by a Pirates minor-league player since Pedro Powell (67) in 2007, while his 117 runs scored were the most by a Pirates prospect since Robbie Grossman (127) in 2011.

Both Baseball America, which named him its Minor League player of the year, and MLB Pipeline have Griffin ranked No. 1.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound shortstop, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, started the season at Low-A Bradenton but was promoted to High-A Greensboro on June 10. He led the South Atlantic League in batting (.325), hits (63), stolen bases (33), runs scored (48), OBP (.432), slugging (.510), OPS (.942) and total bases (99), and was riding a 24-game on-base streak when he was promoted to Altoona on Aug. 18.

The 23-year-old Chandler began the season at Triple-A Indianapolis and ended it in the Pirates’ starting rotation. The 6-3, 218-pound right-hander led all Pirates minor leaguers with 121 strikeouts — and ranked third among all Triple-A pitchers — while going 5-6 with a 4.05 ERA in 24 starts at Indy at the time of his promotion Aug. 22.

Chandler, a 2021 third-round pick, was ranked by No. 7 by MLB Pipeline and No. 15 by Baseball America. Since making his first professional appearance as a pitcher in 2022, Chandler leads all Pirates farmhands in strikeouts (457) and wins (26).

In seven games for the Pirates, including four starts, Chandler went 4-1 with a 4.02 ERA and 0.93 WHIP over 31 1/3 innings and had one save, with 31 strikeouts against four walks.