Pirates Series Takeaways: Konnor Griffin’s Introduction, O’Hearn’s Impact, Cone Magic
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates’ first home series of the 2026 season could not have gone any better.
Pittsburgh won its home opener against the Baltimore Orioles in front of a sellout crowd in a game that featured the MLB debut of top prospect Konnor Griffin. The following day, the Pirates came from behind and won a 3-2 walk-off thanks to Nick Yorke’s double in the bottom of the ninth.
Then on Sunday, the Pirates routed the Orioles 8-2 to complete their first-ever three-game sweep of Baltimore in a win that pushed their winning streak to an MLB-best five games.
Konnor Griffin Impressive on All Fronts
So far, I’ve yet to hear a bad word spoken about Konnor Griffin, as a player or as a person. He’s 19 years old. You’d never guess it. He’s the consensus top prospect in baseball and a potential superstar. You’d never know it by how he carries himself.
Griffin is a rare blend of elite talent and incredible humbleness. He has true five-tool potential and looks destined to be a franchise cornerstone for a long time. He’s also extremely composed and levelheaded, two qualities teenagers often lack.
“He gets a lot of love as he should, but he’s able to block that out and work like he’s trying to prove something,” said Pirates outfielder Jake Mangum, who attended the same high school as Griffin. “He works really hard, man.”
Griffin ended the series with only one hit in nine at-bats but reached base safely in all three games and made a couple fine defensive plays at short.
Though there were some growing pains, which surely will continue, Griffin looked like he belonged.
“Like a veteran,” manager Don Kelly said when asked how Griffin handled everything. “Just the way that he went through the home opener and all the attention and the way that he’s able to continue to stick to his approach. He had some good at-bats today with the walk. I think that as he continues to see how teams are gonna pitch him he’s gonna continue to adapt. I thought that for the home opener to be your debut with all the hype, I thought he did a fantastic job.”
Oh My, O’Hearn
The decision to sign Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year free agent contract this offseason is paying dividends early on. He played well on the road to begin the year and made quite the impression in his first time playing for the home team at PNC Park.
O’Hearn reached base safely and contributed in each of the first two games of the series and helped carry a big day for the offense on Easter. In the Pirates’ 8-2 win, O’Hearn went 2 for 4 with a home run, a double and four RBI.
In eight games to start the season, O’Hearn is batting .367 with a 1.159 OPS, three home runs and 11 RBI. He joined Reb Russell (11, 1922), Ed Stevens (13, 1948), Dick Stuart (11, 1958) and Reggie Sanders (11, 2003) as the only Pirates (since RBI became an official statistic in 1920) with at least 11 RBI through their first eight games with the team and is the only one of the bunch with 11 hits during that span.
“I’m just trying to go out and be myself and support my teammates and play hard,” said O’Hearn. “I think if we get a group of guys that go out there and compete, play hard every day, I think we’re gonna win a lot of games.”
Cone Zone
‘Hoist the Cone’ has taken on a life of its own. The traffic cones, a silly celebration the Pirates have implemented this season similar to the ‘Zoltan Z’ from 2013, were everywhere at PNC Park during the first home series of the season.
Bullpen catcher Cam Balego lifted one over his head in celebration of Konnor Griffin’s first-career hit. A cone was brought onto the field during the celebration after Nick Yorke’s walk-off double on Saturday. Fans in attendance have brought cones of all sizes into the stands.
Maybe the cones are the reason the Pirates have had some early-season magic.
“It’s pretty funny, which is awesome. We’ll see where they take it,” said Billy Cook, who returned to the team on Sunday. “I heard there were cone costumes, people taking cones to the game, so it’s exciting and we’re enjoying watching what the fans are doing with it.”
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I am cautiously optimistic about this team. Bats are majorly upgrades, and the rotation looks great (and we have Jared Jones coming back in a couple months. I’ve had my heart broken by this team plants of times, but I’m gonna continue to be positive.
Pat, pre-injury and before the emergence of Bubba, Jared was regarded as the best young arm in the game after Skenes. The Pirates might soon have a rotation to rival the early 90s Braves (Maddux, Glavine, Avery and Smoltz) or the 70s Orioles lead by Jim Palmer and Scott McGregor, amongst others). Even though we gave up to acquire bats two really good pitchers in Burrows and (dang it, can’t think of his name) we have a tour de force on the mound.