Konnor Griffin is a certified beast. The Pirates shortstop prospect, who is looking to make the team’s Opening Day roster, came into Tuesday’s Grapefruit League game against Boston with an 0-for-5 hanging on him this spring. In his first at-bat in the top of the second, Griffin wasn’t fooled by a 75 mph curveball from former Phillies starter Ranger Suarez. The right-handed hitter barreled up the ball and sent it 374 feet, travelling at a speed of 104.8 mph well out to left field for a two-run blast.
It wasn’t just Suarez though. In his next at-bat, Griffin was down 0-2 against right-hander Seth Martinez and barreled up a sweeper with the result being even more impressive. This one lifted off at a speed of 111.2 mph and traveled 440 feet well over the replica of the Green Monster in left center field. Griffin finished with a 2-for-4 game with two home runs and four RBI for the Pirates in a 16-7 drubbing of the Red Sox.
In his first outing in a Red Sox uniform, Suarez threw 33 pitches — 22 strikes — and went 1.2 innings with three hits, two earned runs, and no walks allowed while striking out two of the eight batters he faced. Suarez was a big signing for Boston and makes a really good starting staff great. He signed a five-year, $130-million deal with the Sox after the Phillies made little or no attempt to re-sign him.
Pitcher Vinny Nittoli, who had been in the Phillies minor league system up until three years ago when he was released, is trying to make the Red Sox bullpen staff this spring. He got crushed. Nittoli allowed four earned runs in 0.2 innings in his second spring appearance. His spring ERA is now 21.60 with Boston.
In case you haven’t heard about Griffin, he is 19 — he turns 20 on April 24 — plays shortstop, and is the Pirates top prospect. He played at Low-A, High-A, and Double-A last season hitting a combined 21 home runs and driving in 24. Oh yeah, he also stole 65 bases in 78 attempts (an 83-percent success rate). His slash line finished the year at: .333/.415/.527/.942 in 122 games. Defensively, he had a .980 fielding percentage at short and also played 15 games in center field with no errors in 129 innings in the field. In other words; he’s pretty good.
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