If Konnor Griffin had any designs on quietly making the Pittsburgh Pirates’ opening-day roster, they can be put to rest. Baseball’s No. 1 prospect doesn’t do much of anything quietly – and that includes his first two Grapefruit League home runs.
Griffin crushed a pair of balls up and over two levels of Monster seats at the Boston Red Sox’s JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Florida, on Feb. 24, staining the exhibition debut of Boston free agent signee Ranger Suarez.
Suarez hung a breaking ball to Griffin in his second inning of work this spring. To his credit, the 19-year-old did not miss it, crushing it an estimated 374 feet down the left field line, a shot that might have gone out of all 30 major league parks.
There was little flukey about it, as Griffin proved in his next plate appearance, pounding an errant sweeper from Red Sox relief hopeful Vinny Nittoli over the portion of the spring Monster in left center field. He apparently broke Statcast on that shot – it finally caught up and measured the drive at 440 feet, 111.2 mph off the bat – but the sound of it told all the story.
At 6-4, 222 pounds, Griffin, the ninth overall pick in the 2024 draft, fits the mold of the modern shortstop with significant power. He still does not turn 20 until April 24.
Will Griffin be the Pirates’ starting shortstop by then? A pair of February blasts in Fort Myers won’t determine that. But as eye candy goes, it doesn’t get much better.