Renewed focus on clubhouse leadership fueling Pirates’ optimism – MLB.com

BRADENTON, Fla. — Before Pirates players took the field for workouts on a chilly Tuesday morning at LECOM Park, an unexpected conversation played out in the corner of the home clubhouse. Konnor Griffin, a 19-year-old from Mississippi who’s yet to play a Major League game, had questions for Marcell Ozuna, a 35-year-old native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, who’s appeared in more than 1,600 games over 13 seasons. Griffin and Ozuna had a deep discussion over various approaches and the process of making adjustments at the highest level. “He’s gonna do well,” Ozuna said of Griffin after Pittsburgh’s 10-2 loss to Houston, which dropped its Grapefruit League record to 15-9. “He learns and will improve what he has.” The hope – no, expectation – is that Griffin isn’t alone. It’s essentially that the Pirates added some veteran leaders this offseason to their position-player group to spur more conversations like the one between MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 overall prospect and the veteran Ozuna. And yes, that has happened plenty beyond Ozuna and Griffin, which is just the latest example. It’s also not to shovel dirt on anything that has happened before, a point Nick Gonzales was careful to make when discussing
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