Featured
Prospect Watch • Pittsburgh Pirates
The Next Great One Is Already Here
Konnor Griffin is 18 years old. He bats left, throws right, plays shortstop, and is currently ranked #1 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects list heading into 2026. For the Pittsburgh Pirates, he represents something this franchise has not had in a generation: a cornerstone player they drafted and developed.
The question being debated in Bradenton right now is simple — is Griffin ready for Opening Day? The Pirates are facing the same calculus every team with a blue-chip prospect faces. Service time manipulation is a real conversation, but so is the fact that Griffin, by every spring metric available, is not just ready to play — he's making the case that holding him back would be the bigger mistake.
He joins exclusive company. The short list of teenage shortstops who started Opening Day for their clubs in the live-ball era reads like a Hall of Fame wing. The Pirates have a chance to add a name to it. 26 days left to decide.
#1
Konnor Griffin
Pittsburgh Pirates • SS • Age 18 • 6'3" / 195 lbs • B/T: L/R
Griffin was the 5th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft out of New Hope High School (Alabama). The scouting report reads like someone assembled a shortstop in a lab: plus raw power from the left side, elite arm strength, above-average speed, and a hit tool that evaluators grade higher than his draft class peers.
He tore through the Florida Complex League and Low-A in his debut campaign, posting a slash line that had Pirates brass bumping his development timeline forward by 18 months. This spring, every major outlet has him as the conversation around Bradenton — not just as a prospect, but as a player who is doing things that make you forget he cannot legally rent a car.
The advanced metrics love him. The radar gun loves him. The Pirates' front office is about to find out if their wallet (read: arbitration calendar) loves him enough to let him break camp with the big club.
Spring Training Live
Yesterday's Results • Feb 26
Today's Schedule • Feb 27
| Away |
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Home |
Time (ET) |
| Baltimore Orioles |
@ |
Pittsburgh Pirates |
1:05 PM |
| New York Mets |
@ |
St. Louis Cardinals |
1:05 PM |
| Toronto Blue Jays |
@ |
Tampa Bay Rays |
1:05 PM |
| Philadelphia Phillies |
@ |
Detroit Tigers |
1:05 PM |
| Boston Red Sox |
@ |
Atlanta Braves |
1:05 PM |
| Miami Marlins |
@ |
Philadelphia Phillies |
1:05 PM |
| New York Yankees |
@ |
Minnesota Twins |
1:05 PM |
| Los Angeles Angels |
@ |
Cincinnati Reds |
1:05 PM |
| Cleveland Guardians |
@ |
Chicago Cubs |
2:05 PM |
| Athletics |
@ |
Kansas City Royals |
3:05 PM |
| Los Angeles Dodgers |
@ |
San Francisco Giants |
4:05 PM |
| Texas Rangers |
@ |
Chicago White Sox |
4:05 PM |
| San Diego Padres |
@ |
Colorado Rockies |
4:05 PM |
| Chicago White Sox |
@ |
Milwaukee Brewers |
4:05 PM |
| Houston Astros |
@ |
Washington Nationals |
1:05 PM |
| Arizona Diamondbacks |
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Seattle Mariners |
4:05 PM |
Around the Grapefruit & Cactus Leagues
RETURN • Toronto Blue Jays
Scherzer Is Back in Toronto — His Daughter Wrote the Letter
Max Scherzer and the Blue Jays have reached an agreement on a new deal, reuniting the three-time Cy Young winner with Toronto. The story making the rounds: Scherzer's daughter reportedly wrote a letter to the Blue Jays expressing her wish that her father return. Whether or not it influenced the front office, it's the most wholesome contract negotiation in recent baseball memory. Scherzer will compete for a rotation spot after a shortened 2025 campaign.
INJURY UPDATE • Baltimore Orioles
Top Prospect Samuel Basallo Exits with Abdominal Discomfort
Orioles catching prospect Samuel Basallo left Thursday's spring training game against the Tigers after experiencing abdominal discomfort. No structural diagnosis has been announced, but any health scare for Baltimore's backstop of the future is worth monitoring. Basallo is considered one of the premier catching prospects in all of baseball and was expected to push for playing time this year.
NOTABLE • New York Yankees
Chisholm Showing Out Early — Yankees' Offense Looks Loaded
Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run blast in the Yankees' spring victory over the Braves (7-3) Thursday, the latest sign that New York's lineup is going to be a problem for American League pitchers. The Yankees open on the road March 25 at San Francisco, a marquee matchup to kick off what could be a 100-win season.
NOTABLE • Los Angeles Dodgers
Will Smith Ties It Up — LA's Spring Continues Strong
The Dodgers edged the White Sox 7-6 Thursday after Will Smith's solo home run knotted the score in the fifth inning. Los Angeles, with Shohei Ohtani returning to full two-way duties, enters 2026 as the National League's most dangerous team on paper. Their spring has reflected it.
IN MEMORIAM • Baseball
Bruce Froemming, 37-Year MLB Umpire, Dies at 86
Bruce Froemming, who worked 5,163 major league games — third-most in big league history — passed away Wednesday at age 86. Froemming was known for his no-nonsense style and a career that spanned from 1971 to 2007, including six World Series. Baseball lost one of its lifers. Rest easy, Blue.
Analyst Corner
Spring Training Records Don't Matter. Spring Training Trends Do.
This is the time of year when every outlet posts spring training leaderboards like they mean something. They don't. A .480 average in February means a pitcher is working on a change-up, not that a hitter found a new gear. But here's what does matter: swing decisions, contact quality, and velocity readings.
Watch for these early signals over the next two weeks:
93+
Elite Exit Velo (mph)
30%
Elite Whiff% (pitchers)
The guys who quietly turn heads in spring are the ones where the exit velocity data ticks up 2-3 mph from where they finished last September. Exit velocity fluctuates, but sustained 95+ mph contact in spring — even off camp arms — tells you a swing is locked in. The same goes for spin rate and velocity for pitchers. When a guy who sat 93 mph last September is sitting 95.5 at LECOM Park, that's signal.
We'll be tracking these numbers all spring. The box scores are theater. The Trackman data is the story.
Injury Report
OUT
Yuki Matsui — SP/RP, San Diego Padres
Out of WBC; Opening Day status uncertain. Injury details pending.
DTD
Samuel Basallo — C, Baltimore Orioles
Exited Thursday's ST game with abdominal discomfort. Monitoring situation.
DTD
Royce Lewis — 3B, Minnesota Twins
Scratched Thursday as precaution with right side tightness.
IL
Stephen Kolek — SP, Kansas City Royals
Out 5-7 days minimum with oblique strain. Could be longer.
DTD
Tatsuya Imai — SP, Houston Astros
Hit by comebacker in spring debut. Threw 10 scoreless pitches before exit. Status TBD.
