Pennsylvania is an effective place to be a Double-A prospect lately.
With the sport’s prime general prospect Konnor Griffin’s current promotion to Altoona, the Tigers’ Huge 3 doing their factor in Erie, Jarlin Susana (WSH No. 3/MLB No. 72) setting the world on fireplace in Harrisburg and Aidan Miller (PHI No. 2/MLB No. 48) heating up in Studying, the Keystone State is an epicenter for prospect expertise lately. The truth is, of the 29 Prime 100 prospects at the moment at Double-A, seven of the highest 13 – greater than half – play in Pennsylvania.
On the most recent MLB Pipeline Podcast, two of these gamers, Griffin and Miller, joined Jonathan Mayo for intensive conversations to mirror on their seasons and speak about what comes subsequent. First-round picks chosen one 12 months aside (Miller in ‘23, Griffin in ‘24) out of the highschool ranks, each Griffin and Miller went to one among Pennsylvania’s two massive league golf equipment, the Pirates and Phillies, and thus have long-term futures within the state.
It’s been a cometlike ascent for Griffin this season, who set the world on fireplace at Single-A and Excessive-A earlier than arriving in Altoona as a 19-year-old on Aug. 19. By that point, he’d leapfrogged the sphere proper to the No. 1 spot on MLB Pipeline’s Prime 100 prospect rankings, and the numbers make it fairly apparent why.
Over his first 108 skilled video games, Griffin hit .329/.410/.512 with 16 homers, 77 RBIs and 63 stolen bases – online game numbers, just about evenly cut up between Single-A and Excessive-A. He’s held his personal over his first week at Double-A, and he’s continued to see time defensively at each shortstop and heart discipline, the place his elite athleticism and plus arm power are distinction makers.
Griffin informed Mayo about among the changes he made early within the 12 months that paid dividends and helped speed up his ascent up the ladder.
“I began getting spun early on, and I used to be chasing outdoors the zone just a little bit,” Griffin mentioned. “Simply not being affected person. Not taking my walks once I wanted to. As soon as I realized that, I began having a greater thought concerning the strategy I wanted. I began getting my pitches to hit, and once I would get walked, I’d attempt to steal luggage. Every thing form of took off from there.”
There was additionally a slight mechanical tweak Griffin made to his stance, incorporating extra motion into his load, that he says helped an excellent deal.
“I added just a little rhythm to my stance, somewhat than standing there being a statue,” he mentioned. “Throughout my swing, my palms had been form of nonetheless. Now I’ve them beginning just a little farther again and have a rhythm going, which makes me really feel free, makes me really feel comfy. Despite the fact that I used to be a first-round decide, I knew I had loads of issues to work on. I wasn’t going to be uncoachable.”
It’s been a extra methodical however linear path for Miller, who reached Double-A on the finish of his first full professional season down the stretch in 2024 and has spent all of this 12 months with Studying, the place he appears to be progressing by means of some preliminary challenges. He slumped offensively early within the 12 months however has actually turned issues round in August, hitting .365/.466/.654 with 17 extra-base hits and 13 steals. Even throughout tough stretches earlier within the 12 months, Miller’s pace by no means slumped: his 50 steals – greater than double his ‘24 complete – lead the Japanese League.
“This month has been a extremely good month for me, the whole lot appears to be clicking on the plate, however actually the all-around recreation,” Miller mentioned. “It’s been loads of ups and downs this 12 months. Not the season I needed, hitting-wise, however its supplied loads of classes. It’s a troublesome league to play in. it’s quite a bit completely different than A ball. I’m actually studying who I’m as a hitter, actually growing an strategy … these guys will spin you to demise till you show to them that you could hit it.”
Similar to Griffin, Miller mentioned he needed to discover ways to alter his strategy to extra superior pitching, particularly when it got here to offspeed pitches. He mentioned he labored on being extra aggressive in opposition to spin, to assault these sorts of pitches earlier within the rely earlier than needing to guard in opposition to them with two strikes.
“It was simply being too passive on the plate. I needed to essentially change that, revamp my strategy,” Miller mentioned. “I believe the report on me is, ‘flip him over, 0-0 spin, as a result of he isn’t going to swing at it.’ It isn’t prefer it’s their finest breaking ball pitch. They’re hittable sliders … they’re within the zone. I used to be simply taking them earlier than, and if you go down 0-1 you form of set your self up for a nasty at-bat, as a result of the pitcher can do no matter he needs after that.”
On the MLB Pipeline Podcast, Jonathan Mayo, Jim Callis and Sam Dykstra are your tour guides by means of all of the unfolding tales and breaking information of baseball’s prime prospects. Every week, you will discover out concerning the stars of tomorrow from the blokes who know as we speak. Obtain, subscribe and assist others discover the present by leaving a score and evaluate on iTunes or your favourite platform.
