JUPITER, FLORIDA — Connor Griffin, the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball, homered for the third time in the first inning this spring, and four pitchers combined to produce a one-hitter. pittsburgh pirates6-1 win against St. Louis Cardinals On Sunday.
Griffin, 19, Ranked as ESPN’s top prospectStarted at shortstop for the Pirates and hit a two-run shot over the left-center field fence kyle leahy The third pitch of the game gave Pittsburgh a 2–0 lead.
“I felt really comfortable,” Griffin told reporters after the game. “I’m really just working on being present, taking each game one game at a time. I’m enjoying where I am right now, but still have to keep working and be ready to go again tomorrow.
Pirate Starter hunter barco While, pitched three scoreless innings with three strikeouts anton kelly, christian curtis And Brandon Neek The Cardinals also got relief, allowing only a single in the fifth inning to the first baseman yohel pozo.
Overall, Pirates pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts.
Griffin, who has a .214 batting average this spring, went deep twice against boston red sox On Tuesday.
“I’m always taking something from the batsmen I’m striking out,” Griffin told reporters. “Whether it was a good move, I’m always trying to find the positives. I felt like there were a lot of positives recently, and the goal is to keep that going, because it just means quality batting.”
The Pirates drafted Griffin in the first round in 2024. He moved up to Double-A last year, where he hit .337 with a .960 OPS in 21 games for Altoona.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
