Drew Aller

He's like, this is a guy who can come along and let it all go to his head and act like a toll.

You know, act like a guy who's done something in this game when he hasn't.

And that's the one thing Connor Griffin constantly reminds everybody is,

I even asked him about Nick Gonzalez being ahead of him right now in spring training, and he said, you know, he's proven himself.

He's played in the major leagues.

I haven't.

And I think that's very much telling is that this is a kid who

as much as he's a 19-year-old, he's a mature 19-year-old, mature well beyond his years, but also has kind of a level head on his shoulders that it's like until, you know, he's not been shy.

Excuse me, they're having a flyover over the ballpark.

That's all right.

It got real loud here real quick.

But as much as he's kind of, you know, been this,

consensus number one prospect and a first-round draft pick and all this stuff.

He hasn't let it go to his head.

He's talked about wanting to be a Hall of Famer, but he doesn't want to get ahead of himself until he's in the majors and proves himself a little bit.

It's just that the hype machine is really rolling, especially when you've got guys like Jeff Passan from ESPN and Ken Rosenthal from The Athletic have come and done stories on him that are on national platforms and talk about how he's

you know, a burgeoning superstar and that, you know, a can't miss kid.

That's only fueled the hype train.

And it's just amazing to me how Connor Griffin hasn't really let it affect him.

Joe, I wrote this before the start of spring training, and I'll repeat it over and over because of just how unusual it is.