PITTSBURGH -- It took just five pitches for baseball’s most highly touted prospect to make an impact at the plate as he debuted Friday afternoon in the Pirates' home opener against Baltimore.

Batting seventh and starting at short in front of a sellout crowd of 38,986 at PNC Park,

Brandon Lowe didn’t know what to expect.

Prior to signing with the Pirates this offseason, the longtime member of the Tampa Bay Rays had played just two career games at PNC Park. He heard some things but wanted to see for himself how the atmosphere on the North Shore would feel.

Suffice

PITTSBURGH -- Konnor Griffin had swung through two breaking balls, with a third one out of the zone sandwiched in between, in his first Major League at-bat. He fouled off slider number four in a row from Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish. Surely, Bradish would challenge him with a heater at

PITTSBURGH -- The spotlight was entirely on Konnor Griffin as the No. 1 prospect in baseball made his Major League debut on Friday for Pittsburgh's home opener in front of a packed house at PNC Park. But there were other players, in both the Pirates’ and

Spring Training is always a testing ground for new pitches. It seems like every pitcher is trying something new with their arsenal.

The regular season is another story. New pitch experiments from the spring evaporate as quickly as they came -- see Garrett Crochet and his new splitter, for example, which

PITTSBURGH -- When Konnor Griffin was 4 years old growing up in Flowood, Miss., a suburb of Jackson, his parents took the natural first step for any young ballplayer by signing him up for T-ball. During his first at-bat, baseball’s top prospect walked up to the plate, picked

This page will be updated throughout the year with the latest Pirates injury news and transactions.

April 3, 2026, could go down as a legendary date in Pirates history.

Not only did the club’s top prospect, Konnor Griffin, make his big league debut and rope an RBI double in his first at-bat, but its No. 2 prospect, Seth Hernandez,

Konnor Griffin is in the Majors. The Pirates promoted MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 overall prospect prior to their home opener on Friday -- several weeks before his 20th birthday.

PITTSBURGH -- Konnor Griffin remembers sitting at PNC Park almost two years ago after he was drafted ninth overall in 2024, dreaming of what it would be like to take the field with the Pirates.

He didn’t have to wait long. That dream became a reality Friday, as baseball’s <a href="https://www.mlb.com/milb/prospects/top100/konnor-griffin-804606"

The Pirates have been building for this.

There’s increased excitement and raised expectations around PNC Park this season, sure. But when it comes to how the organization arrived here, chairman Bob Nutting believes it’s the culmination of a long process.

Asked prior to the home opener Friday what drove the Pirates’ decision-making

When Konnor Griffin entered PNC Park for the first time on Friday for his Major League debut, he did so from Mazeroski Way. If he looked down the road toward the Allegheny River that flows by the ballpark, he’d have seen the statue that immortalizes the Pirates' Hall

The Pirates’ home opener vs. the Orioles today (4:12 p.m. ET, MLB.TV) will be even more special, as the club promoted top prospect Konnor Griffin from Triple-A Indianapolis, tabbing the 19-year-old to improve production at shortstop while acknowledging an impressive developmental response.

CINCINNATI – Darren Mazeroski figured the Pirates would do something, likely wearing a patch on their uniforms to honor his late father.

But the fact that they waited until the home opener at PNC Park to unveil a Bill Mazeroski patch made the gesture that much more touching for the younger

The Konnor Griffin era is set to begin in Pittsburgh on Friday, and anyone who has seen him play at any level, going back to his amateur days, wouldn't be surprised that it's happened.

That it has occurred so quickly? It's doubtful anyone, even the most bullish on his

Major League fans, get ready to meet the next five-tool monster.

No. 1 overall prospect Konnor Griffin is expected to be called up by the Pirates for his MLB debut in their home opener Friday, as Jason Mackey noted Thursday.

Taken ninth overall in the 2024 Draft, Griffin shot up

CINCINNATI -- Brian Giles remembers seeing PNC Park for the first time prior to an exhibition series against the Mets, amazed by its beauty. Jason Kendall recalls the emotion he felt early in the morning on April 9, 2001, upon learning that Willie Stargell had died.

Both couldn’t believe it had

With games kicking off on Thursday at both levels of A ball as well as Double-A, and Triple-A entering its second week of play, the 2026 Minor League season is now fully underway. That means we can finally see all of our favorite prospects performing on the field.

We know it’s

Technically it stems from a conversation involving Pirates Chairman Bob Nutting and Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor, before the latter took office.

But really, the program that launched Wednesday at Herschel Field in Elliott has been decades in the making thanks to Pirates Charities’ Fields for Kids initiative and a desire for

CINCINNATI -- To Paul Skenes, rebounding from his shortest career outing was about one thing -- and one thing only -- execution. To his manager, it was all about the drive and competitiveness of his right-handed ace.

All three were on full display Wednesday, as Skenes threw

CINCINNATI — Moments after a frustrating Opening Day loss, the Pirates entered the visiting clubhouse at Citi Field when Justin Lawrence heard something that struck him.

It was Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”

Don’t worry about a thing
‘Cause every little gonna be alright

Fast-forward to Wednesday. As the Pirates packed up