MLB's No. 1 Prospect Crushes First Spring Training Home Run Off Red Sox's New Arm

One of the most interesting storylines developing in spring training this year involves the top prospect in baseball and his chances of already being called up to the big leagues. And he may have improved his odds of making the Opening Day roster after launching a moonshot against an MLB All-Star.

Konnor Griffin, MLB Pipeline's No. 1 overall prospect for 2026, demolished his first home run of spring training on Tuesday in the Pittsburgh Pirates' game against the Boston Red Sox. The 19-year-old drove a hanging 2-1 curveball 374 feet over the miniature Green Monster in left field at Boston's spring training home, JetBlue Park. The homer came against one of the Red Sox's newest starting pitchers, Ranger Suárez, who just signed a five-year, $130 million deal with Boston in January.

Griffin followed that up by launching another home run in his second at-bat of the day, this time off former Houston Astros reliever Seth Martinez. Although these are just a couple of spring training at-bats, it's undoubtedly impressive to see this sort of power display from a 19-year-old, especially against an eight-year MLB veteran and 2024 National League All-Star. And these at-bats could be just what the Pirates needed to see to consider giving Griffin the chance to face MLB-level pitchers every day to start the 2026 season.

What more does Konnor Griffin have to do to make Pittsburgh's Opening Day roster?

Aug 2, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin who was the ninth overall pick in first round of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft looks on at the batting cage before a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Even before his two home runs on Tuesday, Griffin had been turning heads all spring. From simple batting practice videos to live at-bats against another top Pittsburgh prospect in Bubba Chandler, the 19-year-old has seemingly been making his case to crack the Opening Day roster. Pirates ace Paul Skenes even said earlier this spring he's "excited to have (Griffin) help us win a lot of games in Pittsburgh this year," which could be viewed by the organization as an important seal of approval.

Despite all this, it's still unclear if Griffin will be called up to the big leagues this soon. The 2024 first-round pick only has one full minor league season under his belt. He played 122 games in 2025 across three minor league levels, and only 21 in Double-A.

With no Triple-A experience and possible service-time considerations as well, Pittsburgh may elect to have Griffin start the season in the minors. But if he continues to tear the cover off the ball against MLB-level pitching in spring training, that's going to make it much tougher for the Pirates to justify keeping him out of the big leagues.