Story byThe Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.

MLB: Reds draft Abington Heights grad Griffin in 10th round

Joe Baress, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.Mon, Jul 13, 2026·2 min read

The Cincinnati Reds picked Abington Heights graduate Conner Griffin in the 10th round with the 302nd overall pick of the Major League Baseball Draft on Sunday.

“It’s unbelievable,” Griffin said in a phone interview. “The Reds organization was great. I visited there a couple weeks ago and everyone was really nice, and I’m really excited to get to work with them.”

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The 6-foot-6, 210-pound righthanded pitcher out of Binghamton University has a fastball that can touch triple-digits and sits around 95-96 miles per hour, a cutter that can generate swing and miss and a good slider, according to redsminorleagues.com and Chatterbox Sports.

“The Reds are going to get someone who’s going to work until I make it,” Griffin said. “The biggest thing in my life has been making a difference to an organization wherever I’m at, wherever I’m pitching at, and I hope to do the same for Cincinnati.”

Griffin went 3-4 with a 5.22 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 60.1 innings in his junior season with the Bearcats, making 15 starts and earning second-team All-America East Conference honors. He also held his opponents to a .215 batting average.

In his senior year at Abington Heights in 2023, Griffin earned Lackawanna League Coaches’ All-Star first-team and Times-Tribune All-Region selections. That season, he led the Comets with a .396 batting average with four doubles, one triple, one home run, 11 runs and 16 RBIs, hitting safely in 15 of 18 games. He also pitched eight games, striking out 43 in 29.2 innings.

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“Of course I grew up playing baseball here, so I learned a lot, but one of the big things I learned was from Coach Robby Judge,” Griffin said. “He taught me how to play the game the right way, and how to respect the game. He taught me ways to go about my work, which I still take into my game today. So, that was probably the biggest influence I’ve had so far here.”

Griffin will get right to work, heading out to the spring training complex in Arizona later this week.

“I talked to the Reds area scout who drafted me, and he was excited,” Griffin said. “I really liked our conversations that we had in the winter when we talked, and I’m just really excited to get to work with the Reds.”