FORT MYERS, Fla. — Konnor Griffin was still searching for his first hit of spring training when he faced left-hander Ranger Suarez, a 2024 All-Star and the marquee free-agent addition of the Boston Red Sox.
When Suarez hung a curveball over the middle of the plate, Griffin showed why he’s the consensus top prospect in baseball by smashing a no-doubter over the replica Green Monster for a two-run home run.
“When you’re the top prospect in the game, people expect that from you,” said Suarez, who signed a five-year, $130 million contract in January. “He did that today, and I wasn’t surprised.”
The 19-year-old Griffin did the Monster Mash twice — homering to left-center in the fourth inning — as the Pittsburgh Pirates pounded 21 hits in rolling to a 16-7 win over the Red Sox on Tuesday afternoon before 8,813 at jetBlue Park at Fenway South.
It is the most runs scored by the Pirates in a spring training game since March 6, 2020, when they had 19 against Toronto. It was the second most scored by any team this spring. The New York Yankees had 20 against Detroit on Feb. 21.
A 6-foot-4, 225-pound shortstop, Griffin went 2 for 4 with four RBIs to overshadow three-hit performances by Nick Gonzales and Nick Yorke and multi-hit games from Jhostynxon Garcia and Nick Mangum. Yorke and Garcia are former Red Sox prospects acquired by the Pirates.
“It just felt good to be out there and get some swings off. We smoked ‘em, so that was a great win for us,” Griffin said. “I think it’s just my approach, to be on time for (the) hardest pitch. I got a good one to drive, and that’s what I did.”
Konnor Griffin on his 2-homer game for the Pirates against the Red Sox, with both shots clearing the replica Green Monster at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. pic.twitter.com/ot7ELoi4BS
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 24, 2026
Both homers came on breaking balls and had exit velocities of 104.8 and 111.2 mph, respectively, with the latter being the 10th-hardest hit in either the Cactus or Grapefruit leagues this spring. Through three Grapefruit League games, Griffin has put seven balls in play, and four of them have generated exit velocities of 100 mph or higher. He’s batting only .222 but has an .889 slugging percentage and 1.111 OPS.
“He’s, obviously, a freakish athlete,” said Pirates right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, who had three strikeouts and allowed one hit in two scoreless innings in his first spring start. “I haven’t been able to be around him a whole lot, other than just seeing him this spring and watching some videos from last year, but I can tell you he’s definitely going to hit.
“There’s not a whole lot of swings that you see like that, especially for a teenager. The best way I can say it is his bat is in the zone forever. It’s not fair to say it’s a long swing, but, you know, the bat path just looks like it’s going to be on the ball the whole way. And he was able to show that today. It’s pretty cool to see him do that.”
Griffin made a strong impression against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday in Clearwater, even if he didn’t get the results. He was called out on an infield single, despite appearing to beat the throw to first. He had a pair of fly outs that were kept in play by strong winds, one to center with an exit velocity of 105.6 mph and the other to right at 109.1 mph.
“Seeing the videos of the first one, we’re going to challenge that in the regular season. That would have been a base hit,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said before the game. “Then to come up and hit 106 to center field and 109 to right field, I think it just speaks to his maturity. Which is amazing as a 19-year-old that he’s able to make those adjustments.”
The biggest adjustment in the field, Kelly said, is playing shortstop in back-to-back games. Griffin played center field in Grapefruit League games last spring, so this is his first time playing the position against major leaguers.
“I think defensively, just continuing to understand the movement, the shifting, the things that go on, and being consistent from day-to-day overall will be something we’re looking at,” Kelly said.
Griffin won a Rawlings MiLB Gold Glove for his defense after making only three errors at shortstop across three levels last season. He handled two ground balls to start the bottom of the second inning but was charged with an error when he skipped a throw to first baseman Spencer Horwitz that allowed Ceddanne Rafaela to reach base.
But it’s with his bat that Griffin made his greatest impact.
After Endy Rodriguez hit a bouncer down the right-field line that went out of play for a ground-rule double in the second inning, Griffin watched a first-pitch cutter for a called strike then took two changeups to get ahead for a 2-1 count before crushing the curveball 374 feet to left field.
“I approached that at-bat as any other. I fell down in the count and threw a breaking ball in a fastball count and he was able to hit it,” Suarez said through interpreter Carlos Villoria-Benitez. “I’ve heard very good things about him. He’s a great ballplayer, a very good hitter, and you can see that.”
So it made sense that Griffin homered over the Monster again in the fourth, driving righty reliever Seth Martinez’s 0-2 sweeper 440 feet to left-center to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead. It tied for the fourth-longest home run of spring training in either league.
Safe to say Pirates pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski is impressed with No. 1 prospect Konnor Griffin amid his two-homer game against the Boston Red Sox. pic.twitter.com/O5zRIBnzDS
— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) February 24, 2026
Mlodzinski watched Griffin’s second homer on video from the visiting clubhouse. He thought Suarez executed the pitch, but Griffin “just put a really good swing on it.”
“There’s just not a whole lot of people that hit it that far at a Fenway field setup. I know it’s Fenway South, but going out of the stadium at that point was super impressive,” Mlodzinski said of Griffin. “He’s been pretty electric in the spring. Honestly, he just seems like a super humble guy, which I think everybody can appreciate. There’s a lot of hype — No. 1 prospect and he’s a freak — but when you get to know him, just quiet, humble dude. He goes about his business the right way. So definitely a dude to watch out for.”
With runners on first and third in the fifth inning, Griffin got another RBI by grounding out to third to score Yorke for a 7-1 lead. His final turn was a seven-pitch at-bat that saw Griffin foul off four consecutive pitches, including one at an 102.2 mph exit velocity, before a broken-bat groundout to third base to end the frame.
It was the same bat that Griffin used to hit both homers, but he simply shrugged. Next, Griffin would love nothing more than to homer over the real Green Monster at Fenway Park in Boston.
“That would be special,” Griffin said, smiling. “I’ve seen a lot of really cool home runs go over the big wall. It would be cool to join that club.”
Note: Paul Skenes is scheduled to start for the Pirates against Bryce Elder and the Atlanta Braves at 1:05 p.m. Wednesday in North Port. The game will be televised on SportsNet Pittsburgh.
