The Pomp And Joe Show
1 PM: Kevin Gorman on why Konnor Griffin lasted so long in the draft; the Pirates are one of the biggest stories in MLB
27 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: What are the latest updates on Konnor Griffin's performance?
We've done a lot of hockey talk. We've done a lot of football talk. Not so much baseball talk. Not until now, because now Kevin Gorman is live. I was assuming he was in Bradenton. I shouldn't have assumed. I don't know where he is. Gorman, where are you right now?
I'm at Lecom Park in Bradenton, Old McKechnie Field. Yeah, ballgame's about to start. Pirates versus the Orioles. Who's pitching? Mitch Keller against an old friend, Shane Baas. Good matchup. Representative lineup today, actually. Connor Griffin is starting in shortstop. I think it's the first chance for the locals to see Connor Griffin as the starting shortstop for the Pirates.
Just great for league season. And they've got Nick Gonzalez at third base, which is interesting. And it's a pretty representative lineup. Ryan O'Hearn, Brian Reynolds, Jake Mangum are out there. Henry Davis behind the plate. So I think you got a good number of guys that are potential starters in the lineup today.
Well, the one name that jumps out, and we talk about this every time, but things change. They go up and down. Percent chance that Connor Griffin opens the season in Pittsburgh, Kev? Yeah, I mean, I still think it's 50-50.
I don't know. I think the Pirates want him to start in the minors. That's the feeling, the vibe that I've gotten from them is that the decision was already made. That's their preference, is that he starts the season in the minors.
I was talking to someone close to the team yesterday, and they expressed how in April is when you're going to get your best pitching in AAA because you have guys that are Essentially, the major leaguers that are on non-roster invites that are on minor league deals are going to be there working out their issues, whether they're returning from an injury or whether they're on a prove-it contract.
You have the AAA guys that are top 100 prospects are there before their call-up, and you've got the guys that are the quad A pitchers that are still trying to prove themselves. So he was basically saying, hey, look, a month in April could be beneficial to his confidence, seeing some really good pitching before he gets to the major leagues.
That said, the longer he's up here and the more opportunity he gets, and the opportunities are going to increase here now that the World Baseball Classic is about to start and some of these players are going to be going to play for other countries, he's going to make the difficult decision for them. It's going to be, Connor Griffin is showing every day that he belongs.
And, you know, whether they feel like he's ready or not for opening day, I don't think anybody has any questions that Connor Griffin is going to make his major league debut in the 2026 season. And I would imagine it's going to be sooner rather than later.
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Chapter 2: Why did Konnor Griffin last until the ninth pick in the draft?
Until the Pirates make their decision, meaning on whether he'll be here or not and how soon, the eyes of the baseball world will be trained on Bradenton. I mean, this is the biggest story in baseball on the field other than the CBA crap. You know what I mean, Kev? This is the biggest story in the league.
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. It's been a long time since we've talked about the Pirates having a unanimous or consensus anything that didn't have something to do with last place or didn't have something to do with being a public relations disaster.
And right now they have the unanimous Cy Young Award winner for the National League and the consensus number one player in baseball. They have become a hot topic around baseball, and they have some guys walking around. And I talked to Paul Skeens about this the other day.
You walk into that clubhouse or you see these guys walk on the field and you see a 6'6", 260 Paul Skeens and a 6'7", 240 O'Neal Cruz and a 6'4", 240 or 225-pound Connor Griffin at shortstop. And you say, man, they got some big, impressive guys walking around on this team that are going to turn heads. and that are capable of doing things.
When you hear the term unicorn, it's supposed to be like it's this mythical, magical term that people use to say he's one of one. And the Pirates have three guys that people have talked about being unicorns in Skeens, Cruz, and Griffin now. And so it's very much a different vibe in that sense that the Pirates have those guys. And in fairness, the pirates have seven all-stars on this team.
Seven guys have been all-stars and those three are only one of them. You know, schemes is the only one of those three that the unicorn types that's been an all-star. So they've got some guys around them too. You know, they're, they're, there's some serious talent on this team.
Now, whether they can get them all, you know, whether Donnie Kelly can get them all to play together and buy in, you know, and, and, and, and all pull in the same direction, that's going to be, you know, the key to this season is whether, you know, Donnie's leadership gets this team to perform, you know, at or above expectations, because,
expectations have now increased to the point that I think people are talking about the Pirates as a playoff contender.
Kevin Gorman of the Trib, live from Bradenton. Appreciate him joining us. Fan Twitter brought to you by South Hills Kia, Peters Township. Visit them at southhillskia.net. The text line brought to you by Edgar Snyder and Associates, a personal injury law firm, where they always say there's never a fee unless we get money for you. And it's 1-13, time to make the smart call.
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Chapter 3: What makes the Pirates one of the biggest stories in MLB this season?
That's why nobody from the owner's side wants these things out, but you just knew it would leak, pun intended. And now we have toilet gate. All right, let's wrap this week up. It's been a very eventful week on Very Rarely Pumpin' Joe, and we'll wrap it up next with a look ahead to the weekend. Quite an interesting week in Pittsburgh sports, but let's end it where we began today.
Sean, don't call me Seth Meyers, and that is... Man, these last, I don't know, how many years have been flooded with stories on the state of sports in Pittsburgh? Dark times, the dark ages. Nobody wins playoff games or series anymore. When was the last time it was this bad?
Well, it occurred to me when I woke up today, man, like I just talked to Kevin Gorman about, the Pirates are the biggest story in baseball right now. Rampant optimism. Maybe some of it's misguided, but Connor Griffin's the biggest story in the game at this particular moment.
I have a crazy few little tidbits on him. Yeah. Courtesy of Sarah Langs. She does a great job with all things MLB. Yeah. If he starts opening day, which certainly there's at least a chance of that. 50-50, Gorman said. First teenage position player in an MLB game since Juan Soto in 2018.
The youngest to play on opening day since 1989 and the first teenager to make an opening day roster and making their debut also since 1989. Both of those distinctions went to Ken Griffey Jr. Wow. So Juan Soto and Ken Griffey Jr. are the two names that he would match if he starts opening day.
I can't tell you the last time I wanted to intensely track the results of a spring training game, but Gorman said Griffin's in like a major league lineup today, like it's a real lineup, and I can't wait to find out what he's doing. You know what I mean? So we have that, him and Skeens and the Pirates in a different place.
We have the Penguins in a wildly different place than anybody could have imagined. And the game last night was fabulous. They turn it up 10 notches in the third period and get two points that they need. And every point right now is precious. They're flat out fun. They're flat out good. They're a good team. We're nearly 60 games in here. That ain't changing.
It's still going to be a struggle perhaps without Sid, although even good news came there when we learned that the four-week, minimum of four-week projection was retroactive to when the injury actually occurred. So he could be back sooner than we think. Point being, even with the Steelers, and I'm not exactly optimistic going into next year, but at least something's changed from the staleness of
of Mike Tomlin being there every single year and knowing exactly what was going to happen. I don't love that they went to what I think is Tomlin 2.0 here in a similar resume, Mike McCarthy, but at least it's different. A lot of talk about Ty Simpson today. That could be good. That could be bad, but at least it's something different and new and maybe give it a try.
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Chapter 4: How does Konnor Griffin adapt to playing shortstop for the Pirates?
And Farabaugh says it went really well. Now, that doesn't have Farabaugh convinced that they're going to go for him at 21. But if his reporting is accurate, it's mighty interesting, isn't it?
And he said maybe there's a scenario they take him in a second or even trade up back into the first.
Yeah. I'm wondering if they're going to take him at 21. I'm wondering if he might go higher. People have made a whole lot about that second half of the year, forgetting he played great against Oklahoma, forgetting he was hurt, forgetting he was ill, forgetting he had a broken rib that took him out of the Indiana playoff game. I think a guy like Sean McVay sits down and sees the good here.
There's a lot of teams that still need quarterbacks, and I don't know if you're going to see him taken in the top 10. That seems like it'd be a reach. 13, maybe. I would be more inclined to think some of those teams that need a starting quarterback. We have the Jets, the Cardinals, the Browns.
I think they could all be in play, and it doesn't have to be with their second or third or sixth pick, respectively. They could be creative and find out another way to get a guy like that as well.
Man, is it going to be curious if that dude is on the board still as the Steelers step up for their pick right here on the North Shore and everybody wondering if it's going to be Ty Simpson. It seems to me that momentum is building. Let's put it this way. You could make too much of what went down today and yesterday, but it's undeniable that momentum is building toward that. That's undeniable.
There is some momentum building toward that. And a lot of people think that it will happen.
And Donnie will boo his lungs out if that happens, right? Is Donnie going to be down there that day? Oh, you would think he would be.
He's not going to miss that. He surely will be. What are you going to do this weekend, Sean? What's on the agenda? Play a little wiffle ball with limits?
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Chapter 5: What impact does the World Baseball Classic have on MLB rosters?
This was a hell of a show today.
I enjoyed it. You were a wonderful man. Yeah. I did have a good time. Yes. What was your favorite part? When you had me make up a word that I've since forgotten.
Yeah, we should finish with Derek Shelton. Now, I really like Shelton. I know he had a tough time in Pittsburgh, but this is still one of a very few. If you're looking at the three major sports, team sports in North America, or even four, you're looking at, what, 100 coaches or so? A little over 100? One of them has now twice used a word that I invented, incringulant.
This is Derek Shelton yesterday talking about Paul Skeens. And I'm very proud of this. And I've already texted Shelty saying thank you for again bringing Incrinculant into the mainstream. I'll say goodbye with this as we listen to Shelty. And I'll see you Monday with Limits, presumably, and Pomp, well, probably not, but hopefully.
Was it special for you to see Paul win the Cy Young after the season he was able to have last year?
Yeah, that was great. I mean, the sky's the limit. There's no words. I mean, I'll use incringulant just because that'll play well back in Pittsburgh.
That was the owl in the background. He got a kick out of that, didn't he? Gourmet the owl.
Oh, he loved that one. He knew that was a Joe Starkey tribute right there. Good night, Sean. Good night, Joe. God bless.
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