It\u2019s time to get all aboard the Konnor Griffin hype train. Pittsburgh\u2019s next franchise cornerstone is pounding on the door of the big leagues. The Pirates phenom homered twice Tuesday as Pittsburgh defeated the Red Sox, 16\u20137, in Grapefruit League action at JetBlue Park.<\/p>\n
Griffin entered spring as baseball\u2019s top prospect and, in two swings, showed why. The 19-year-old crushed a hanging curveball from Ranger Su\u00e1rez, Boston\u2019s top free-agent acquisition this offseason. Griffin’s first homer was crushed it 375 feet over the left-field wall for a two-run homer in the second inning.<\/p>\n
His second homer was a mammoth 440-foot blast to left-center off reliever Seth Martinez, who is in Sox camp as a non-roster invitee looking to make the team. The ball left Griffin\u2019s bat at 111.2 mph, soaring into the Florida sky.<\/p>\n
“Got some good swings off, so kind of smoked them,” Griffin told reporters following the win.<\/p>\n
For the Pirates, the question is whether they\u2019re ready to put a teenager on the Opening Day roster alongside a young core that already includes one of the best pitchers in baseball, Paul Skenes.<\/p>\n
Griffin dominated the minors in 2025 and was the consensus Minor League Player of the Year. Across three levels in Pittsburgh\u2019s system, he hit .333\/.415\/.527 with 21 home runs, 23 doubles, four triples, 94 RBIs, 50 walks, 65 stolen bases, and a .942 OPS in 122 games.<\/p>\n
The Pirates could slow-play Griffin\u2019s arrival, similar to how they handled Skenes. The former No. 9 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft could become one of the few teenagers to crack a Major League roster. If he makes the Opening Day roster \u2014 or reaches the majors before his 20th birthday \u2014 he would join a rare group that includes Ken Griffey Jr., Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Andruw Jones, Juan Soto, Alex Rodriguez, Adri\u00e1n Beltr\u00e9, and Iv\u00e1n Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n
Griffin has the makings of a franchise cornerstone. He combines power and speed with strong defense and a plus arm. The Pirates would be taking a calculated risk, but Griffin has the tools to become an immediate impact player.<\/p>\n
A potential work stoppage after next season adds another wrinkle. If Griffin starts accruing service time in 2026 and the league were to lose the 2027 season, that\u2019s effectively one fewer year of team control for Pittsburgh. If the Pirates keep Griffin in the minors for a few weeks, and Pittsburgh could secure a seventh year of control by preventing him from earning a full year in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With Skenes, the Pirates waited until May 2024 to call him up, and he was so dominant that he still won National League Rookie of the Year and earned a full year of service anyway. Had they simply put him on the Opening Day roster, they would\u2019ve landed an extra draft pick through the Prospect Promotion Incentive program.<\/p>\n
Griffin is reportedly open to a long-term extension, and if the two sides strike a deal this spring or early in the season, the service-time debate would essentially disappear.<\/p>\n
“I fully trust what the front office and the coaches and everybody have done, how they’re going about it,” Griffin said in an interview with ESPN\u2019s Jeff Passan. “They’ve done a great job so far allowing me to be free in the minor leagues and be able to move and continue to face challenges. But this spring, I’m really trying not to think about it too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“There’s a lot of noise. I’m just trying to treat it just like I did last spring. I knew I had no chance of just making the big league team. And so every day I was just trying to be a sponge and soak up the advice of these great players who’ve been through it. And I’m trying to do the same thing this year. I know there could be a chance I make the big leagues at some point soon, and that’s great, but I just want to feel ready.”<\/p>\n
With Griffin on the doorstep and one of the game\u2019s best arms fronting the rotation, Pittsburgh feels closer than it has in years. Skenes is the headliner, but the pitching depth behind him is real. Bubba Chandler arrived last season and will pitch in the rotation behind Skenes, Mitch Keller is the veteran of the group and remains as steady as they come, and Jared Jones is expected back after Tommy John surgery.<\/p>\n
The Pirates didn\u2019t promote Chandler until late August last season, opting to let him continue developing at Triple-A before giving him the green light. Some would argue the delay had as much to do with service-time considerations as development, positioning him to qualify for Super Two status after the 2027 season.<\/p>\n
There are still questions around former top prospects that were massively hyped up. Oneil Cruz\u00a0took a step back offensively last season, a reminder that hype doesn\u2019t guarantee production. Former No. 1 overall pick Henry Davis hasn\u2019t delivered at the plate, though he continues to provide value defensively behind it.<\/p>\n
General manager Ben Cherington bolstered the roster with veterans \u2014 the kind of stabilizing additions he once made before Boston\u2019s 2013 breakout. The Red Sox had David Ortiz to anchor that lineup and it ultimately led to a World Series’ win. In Pittsburgh, Skenes and Griffin have the chance to become the heartbeat of the franchise and a fan base that is dying for a regular playoff contender.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Pirates added second baseman Brandon Lowe, outfielder\/first baseman\u00a0Ryan O\u2019Hearn, and designated hitter Marcell Ozuna in a busy offseason. Those bats, mixed with Griffin and the club\u2019s young core, give Pittsburgh a lineup that shouldn\u2019t be overlooked. Add in Pirates veteran bat Bryan Reynolds, the Bucs have a solid veteran core.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh also has young outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia, acquired from Boston in the five-player deal that sent Johan Oviedo\u00a0to the Red Sox. Garcia isn\u2019t on Griffin\u2019s level in terms of raw talent, but he has a legitimate shot to break camp with the big club.<\/p>\n
He has just seven Major League at-bats, but the power is obvious. Garcia hit 21 home runs with a .470 slugging percentage last season, continuing a pattern of loud contact that\u2019s followed him throughout the minors. At Triple-A, his 90th-percentile exit velocity reached 105 mph \u2014 another sign the power should translate.<\/p>\n
Garcia never had a clear path to everyday at-bats in Boston, where the outfield is crowded and heavily left-handed. Roman Anthony, Wilyer Abreu,\u00a0Masataka Yoshida, and Jarren Duran either hold roster spots or sit directly ahead of him on the depth chart, leaving little room for him to carve out consistent playing time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did a lot of intriguing things in the offseason,\u201d Alex Cora said last Tuesday. \u201cThey added some veterans and they\u2019ve got good pitching \u2014 they really do. They play the game hard. They have some big kids in that organization. We saw it; they\u2019re very physical.\u201d<\/p>\n
Putting Griffin on the Opening Day roster would be aggressive \u2014 and compelling. Baseball needs its next wave of stars on center stage. He has just 563 professional plate appearances and hasn\u2019t played at Triple-A, so there\u2019s risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At some point, Skenes could be taking the ball in Game 1 of a playoff series, with Griffin near the top of the lineup. For the Pirates, that vision doesn\u2019t feel far off.<\/p>\n
The battle for the No. 5 spot in the Red Sox rotation has become the top storyline in camp, and left-hander Connelly Early has firmly put himself in the mix.<\/p>\n
The box score won\u2019t fully capture it, but Early looked electric in relief. He struck out three and generated eight whiffs over 2 2\/3 innings. His four-seam fastball touched 97.1 mph in the first inning Saturday after sitting around 94 mph a year ago. The added strength Early added appears to be paying off. Early packed on 15 pounds of muscle this offseason, and the Red Sox hope the extra weight will help him maintain velocity deeper into games and better handle the grind of a full season.<\/p>\n
Kutter Crawford\u00a0and left-hander\u00a0Patrick Sandoval recently threw live batting practice at Fenway South. It marked Crawford\u2019s first time facing hitters since injuring his wrist last summer, while Sandoval worked multiple innings in a simulated setting for the first time this spring. Sandoval believes he\u2019ll be ready for Opening Day, though his role remains unclear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Both pitchers could be in the mix to win the No. 5 spot in the rotation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to say I\u2019m not going to be on Opening Day, I don\u2019t want to say I am going to be on Opening Day, either,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cIf I\u2019m not, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s going to be much longer after Opening Day for sure, but I plan on spending the majority of the season with the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not too far behind, I don\u2019t think,\u201d Sandoval added. \u201cOpening Day should not be out of the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Franklin Arias will start at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time to get all aboard the Konnor Griffin hype train. Pittsburgh\u2019s next franchise cornerstone is pounding on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2375],"tags":[5,141,48,2542,4,89,2543,63300,63118,63120],"class_list":["post-600156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boston-red-sox","tag-baseball","tag-boston","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-bostonredsox","tag-mlb","tag-red-sox","tag-redsox","tag-sunday-notebooks","tag-top-red-sox","tag-top-story-2"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116155181342886283","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}