John-Ford Griffin Stats & Scouting Report

AB	23
AVG	.304
OBP	.37
SLG	.696
HR	2

Full name John-Ford David Griffin
Born 11/19/1979 in Sarasota, FL
Profile Ht.: 6'2" / Wt.: 215 / Bats: L / Throws: L
School Florida State
Debut 09/06/2005
Drafted in the 1st round (23rd overall) by the New York Yankees in 2001 (signed for $1,200,000).

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Of the 10 .400 seasons in Florida State history, Griffin has produced three of them in his three years in Tallahassee. He has been chasing the Division I batting crown and J.D. Drew's school-record .455 average this season. Seminoles assistant Jamey Shouppe says that Griffin may be a better pure hitter than Drew. Griffin has one of the prettier swings in the draft. He doesn't have Drew's power, but he does have the bat speed and leverage to hit homers as a pro. Shoulder surgeries have limited Griffin's arm strength, which along with his slightly below-average speed will consign him to left field. He's not the all-around player that Auburn outfielder Gabe Gross is, but he's a superior hitter.

Top Rankings

Organization Prospect Rankings

Griffin led the Triple-A International League in home runs and RBIs in 2005, finally showing the power three organizations had been looking for since the Yankees drafted him 23rd overall in 2001. New York sent him to Oakland in the Jeff Weaver trade in July 2002, and the A's moved him to the Blue Jays for Jason Perry in January 2003. In college, Griffin was known more for his ability to hit for average. He topped .400 in each of his three seasons at Florida State, set a Seminoles record with a career .427 mark and had coach Mike Martin call him the best pure hitter in the program's history. But after slugging a mere .430 during his first two pro seasons, Griffin spent his next two in Double-A learning to identify which pitches he could drive. The tradeoff for his power has been a drop in batting average and a spike in strikeouts. At least he still draws his share of value. Griffin's value consists entirely of what he can do with the bat. He's a below-average runner, thrower and defender who's limited to left field and first base and may fit best at DH. The Blue Jays rewarded Griffin's 2005 performance with his first major league callup to give him an idea of what he has to do to make the club, and he homered off Kansas City's Jimmy Gobble on the final day of the season. Griffin will get the chance to make Toronto as a reserve outfielder and pinchhitter this spring.
Griffin topped the .400 mark in all three of his seasons at Florida State, where he set a school record with a .427 career average and Seminoles coach Mike Martin called him the best pure hitter in the program's storied history. The Yankees made him a first-round pick in 2001, and two trades later he has yet to make it past Double-A. Griffin has been disappointing for the Blue Jays, who thought they were getting a nearly major league-ready hitting machine. He repeated Double-A last year and didn't make the expected adjustments. He launched a personal-best 22 homers, but at the expense of his ability to hit for average (a career-low .248) and his strike-zone judgment (a career-worst 128 whiffs). He has a smooth, quick swing from the left side and needs to get back to his natural hitting instincts. He fell into the bad habit of working deep counts only to strike out looking on good pitches to hit. Griffin's defense is a significant concern as well. He had surgery on his throwing shoulder after his sophomore year at Florida State, and his arm has been below-average ever since. He injured his wrist in spring training and had to spend most of 2004 as a DH. He's limited to left field or first base, and he's going to have to produce a lot more offense to cut it at either position. Griffin will get an opportunity to turn things around in Triple-A, but his time is running out.
Griffin added to his offensive reputation in 2003, though a stress fracture in his foot ended his season in late July. It's the second straight year Griffin saw truncated by an injury, as a hand problem cost him the last two months of 2002. Florida State coach Mike Martin calls Griffin the best hitter his program ever has produced, and he projects to have an above-average big league bat. He has a smooth lefthanded swing that grew shorter, allowing him to take advantage of his bat speed and hit for better power than he had previously shown. He matched his previous career home run total with 13. Some in the organization envision him as a .300 hitter with 20 homers, while others say he's more of a .270 hitter with 30- or even 40-homer pop. But Griffin doesn't do much else well. He's not a good runner, basestealer or fielder, ill-suited even for left field because of his lack of speed and poor arm. If the power projections don't play out, Griffin would be a Jeremy Giambi clone, a solid hitter without a position. And Toronto already has Josh Phelps as a young, power-hitting DH. Griffin needs to reverse his downward defensive trend when he heads to Triple-A.
After the three-team trade that took him from the Yankees to the Athletics, Griffin played two games in Double-A before being sidelined by a hand injury for the rest of the season. Then the A's traded him to the Blue Jays over the winter, as he continued to follow Jason Arnold from organization to organization. Griffin is a prolific hitter, having batted .400 in each of his three seasons at Florida State, where Seminoles coach Mike Martin called him the best hitter in the program's storied history. Griffin generates tremendous bat speed and has the makings of an outstanding hitter. While he has just 13 homers in 151 pro games, scouts say he has longball strength and will increase his power production as he matures. Griffin had surgery on his throwing arm after his sophomore year at Florida State and has not regained his arm strength. He has worked diligently, but it remains below-average. He could be limited to left field, moved to first base or even stuck as a DH. Griffin will return to Double-A, where he played just 20 games in 2002. He should be among the first players to reach the majors from the 2001 draft.
Griffin finished fourth in NCAA Division I with a .450 average last year, wrapping up a career in which he hit better than .400 in each of his three seasons at Florida State. Seminoles coach Mike Martin called him the best hitter in the program's history, which also includes all-time college greats such as J.D. Drew. Not surprisingly, Griffin was considered one of the best pure hitters in the draft. Griffin personifies the Yankees' philosophy with his professional approach to hitting. He generates tremendous bat speed and sprays line drives all over the ballpark. He makes excellent adjustments from pitch to pitch and is a dangerous two-strike hitter. Griffin had shoulder surgery after his sophomore season, leaving him with a below-average arm that will relegate him to left field. Having average power prevented him from going higher in the draft, though he has the bat speed and leverage to hit more home runs. Griffin's understanding of the strike zone will help him make adjustments. His bat is ready for Double-A, though he'll head to high Class A Tampa first.

Minor League Top Prospects

A pure-hitting machine with a sweet lefthanded stroke, Griffin produced a .450-19-75 All-American season at Florida State last spring. The first of four Yankees first-rounders, Griffin's advanced plate discipline stood out in his debut campaign. He had 50 walks and 23 strikeouts with the Seminoles, followed by 40 walks and 41 strikeouts in Staten Island. "He has a good idea of the strike zone," Staten Island manager Dave Jorn said. "He is going to hit for more power. He needs to learn how to make adjustments, but he has tremendous hand-eye coordination." Griffin ripped 17 doubles and five home runs, and his swing path and strength suggest he will develop more as he adapts to pro ball. "He has some power but he doesn't know how to use it yet," Brooklyn manager Edgar Alfonzo said. "He goes to the opposite field a lot." One manager wasn't as enthralled, saying that Griffin has too many holes in his swing and can't hit lefthanders.