Konnor Griffin, SS, Pirates: This winter, the Red Sox signed lefty Ranger Suarez to a five-year contract worth $130 million. Color Konnor Griffin unimpressed, as the Pirates shortstop and No. 1 prospect in the game got a hanging curveball from Suarez and sent it into orbit on Tuesday. Using the whip-quick bat speed that has become his signature, Griffin—Pittsburgh's first-round pick two summers ago—pulled Suarez's offering high, deep and out of JetBlue Park in Fort Myers.

As it turns out, that was only the first act.

Three innings later, he did it again. This time, his victim was Seth Martinez, who left a sweeper near the middle of the plate. Once again, Griffin didn't miss. His second blast was just to the left of center field but was still high enough to clear everything at the Fenway facsimile.

Two at-bats. Two home runs. That's the kind of day that makes a prospect No. 1.

Travis Bazzana, 2B, Guardians: It was a great day for the top of the 2024 first round. While Griffin, the No. 9 overall pick that year, socked a pair of home runs against the Red Sox, in the Cactus League, Bazzana connected on his first spring longball, as well.

The Oregon State alum and first overall pick from two drafts ago turned around a fastball from reliever Edgardo Henriquez and deposited it just to the right of dead-center field. In an injury-marred 2025 season, Bazzana hit .245/.389/.424 with nine home runs in 374 plate appearances.

Charlie Condon, 1B, Rockies: To this point, Condon has had a tough go in pro ball. He's dealt with injuries and ineffectiveness in equal measure and has shown he's much less of a finished product than would have been suggested by his college performance. Nonetheless, Condon on Tuesday gave fans a taste of what he hopes to do early and often in 2026. Facing Angels reliever Derek Clark, Condon connected on his first Cactus League home run, launching a pitch just to the left of dead center field at Salt River Fields. Condon's future depends on his power, and Tuesday helped him kick-start his spring on a high note.

Sebastian Walcott, SS, Rangers: News broke earlier in February that the top Rangers prospect would need surgery to repair an elbow that had started barking during the early days of the Arizona Fall League. Now, the surgery is complete. MLB's Kennedi Landry reported on Feb. 24 that Walcott had internal brace surgery—rather than full Tommy John—and could resume hitting in 5-6 months. With that timeline, he could see time toward the end of the season and also could regain lost at-bats during the AFL. As a 19-year-old in 2025, he hit .265/.344/.452 with 34 doubles and 11 home runs for Double-A Frisco.

Ricky Tiedemann, LHP, Blue Jays: Tiedemann has dealt with plenty of health issues throughout his career. He's thrown just 140 minor league innings since being drafted in 2021, and hasn't come close to topping his career-high of 78.1 innings, which he threw in 2022. A litany of injuries—including Tommy John surgery—has derailed his career and kept Toronto from seeing how his high-octane stuff would play at the highest level. Now, unfortunately, his elbow is barking again.

Media reports indicate that Tiedemann felt soreness during a recent side session and had an MRI. Fortunately, the imaging came back clean, but he'll be given a bit of a break to recover. Toronto and its fans certainly hope this is just a small hiccup rather than another long-term setback.

Owen Murphy, RHP, Braves: Tommy John surgery cut short Murphy's 2024 season and limited him to just seven appearances in 2025. He got on the hill for his Grapefruit League debut on Tuesday and gave Atlanta three solid innings. The righthander entered in the seventh and held Detroit off the scoreboard through the end of the game. He allowed one hit and struck out four. He got six whiffs on 22 swings, including two apiece on his slider and curveball.

Editor’s Picks

Could Konnor Griffin Make The Pirates’ Opening Day Roster?: If the No. 1 prospect in baseball continues hitting like he did against the Red Sox on Tuesday, the Pirates will have a tough—and historic—roster decision on their hands. Read more…

5 Reasons Why Prospects Are Getting To MLB Faster: Minor league development has sped up as MLB teams are much more willing to push prospects through the minors faster than before. Read more…

Baseball America Helium Pick Of The Day

Each day, we’ll pick a prospect that has our attention.

Josue De Paula, OF, Dodgers: The top of the Dodgers' system is led by a fearsome foursome of talented outfielders. Which player reigns supreme varies from evaluator to evaluator—we have Eduardo Quintero in that spot—but there's little doubt that each has a chance to impact a big league roster.

On Tuesday, it was De Paula's time to shine. The lefty-swinging outfielder, who ranks second behind Quintero on BA’s Dodgers Top 30 and also as our No. 3 corner outfield prospect in the game, racked up three hits in as many trips against the Guardians, including his first double of the spring. He drove in a run and scored twice.

De Paula is now tied for the spring training lead with five hits.

Quick Hits

Prospect news and notes from around baseball…

• Jhostynxon Garcia continued his hot start to the spring with another 2-hit performance in the Pirates’ offensive outburst against Boston.

• Cole Carrigg, the Rockies’ No. 6 prospect, filled up the box score Tuesday: 2-for-3 with a double, RBI, run scored and a stolen base.

• Top 10 Padres prospect Bradgley Rodriguez worked a perfect inning with a pair of Ks against the Cubs.

• Kevin McGonigle, BA’s latest mag cover athlete (see below), got on base again and swiped his first bag of spring camp.

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