Griffin joins Skenes, Ohtani on list of hyped MLB debuts

Welcome to the show, Konnor Griffin.

On Friday, the sport's No. 1 prospect will make his major league debut when the Pittsburgh Pirates host the Baltimore Orioles at PNC Park. According to ESPN Research, Griffin, 19, is set to be the first position player to make his MLB debut as a teenager since Juan Soto in 2018, and the first teenager to suit up for the Pirates since Aramis Ramírez in 1998.

Needless to say, Griffin's first big league outing will come with considerable fanfare. The superstar shortstop prospect arrives in the Steel City with a tremendous amount of hype -- just take it from ESPN's Kiley McDaniel's 2026 prospect rankings:

"Griffin is the top prospect in baseball by a mile," McDaniel wrote in January. "And I almost put him in the 70 FV tier, which is the highest I'll put any hypothetical prospect, as that means I expect him to be on MVP ballots with 5-plus WAR seasons every year."

Or you could take it from the contract ESPN's Buster Olney reported Thursday that Griffin and Pittsburgh were finalizing: nine years, $140 million, which would make Griffin the first teenager in MLB history to receive a $100 million contract.

Friday is when the focus on Griffin's big league potential starts to become reality. And though it's unrealistic to expect him to immediately hit the ground running with superstar-level play, he's not the first prospect of his stature to arrive in the majors to serious hype. Soto, Griffin's new Pirates teammate Paul Skenes, Bryce Harper and others have made their big league debuts with fans everywhere watching.

Here's how some of the other most hyped MLB debuts since 2000 have gone.

Paul Skenes, 2024, Pittsburgh Pirates

Two years ago, the eyes of baseball were again on Pittsburgh as Skenes, a highly touted pitching prospect, made his big league debut. Selected No. 1 in the 2023 draft after leading LSU to a College World Series title, Skenes had set an SEC record for strikeouts in a season. He started the 2024 season in Triple-A but a dominant start and an ERA of 0.99 across his first seven starts convinced the Pirates into an early May call-up to the majors.

Skenes wasn't perfect but still flashed plenty in his first start, giving up three runs across four innings but striking out seven batters and reaching 100 mph 17 times.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 2019, Toronto Blue Jays

The son of Hall of Fame slugger Vladimir Guerrero wasted no time establishing himself as a highly regarded prospect. He hit 20 home runs and drove in 78 runs in 95 games across four levels of minor league ball as a teenager in 2018. The Blue Jays gave him the call-up to the big leagues in April 2019 as a 20-year-old.

After arriving at the park in his father's Montreal Expos jersey, Guerrero's debut was a memorable one -- his first hit came in the ninth inning with the score tied, a leadoff double. Later in the inning, Brandon Drury blasted a walk-off home run to win it.

Ronald Acuna Jr., 2018, Atlanta Braves

Acuna rapidly rose through the prospect rankings as he scorched his way through minor league ball in 2017, flashing all sorts of potential -- the five-tool player stole 44 bases and notched 181 hits across 139 games of Class-A, Double-A and Triple-A action. Acuna continued to flash in spring training ahead of the 2018 season, hitting .432 with four home runs and stolen bases each in 16 exhibition games, and by April he was in the majors.

The then 20-year-old Venezuelan made his mark in his debut game, hitting an eighth-inning single and scoring the tying run in a 5-4 Braves win.

Shohei Ohtani, 2018, Los Angeles Angels

Ohtani's arrival in the MLB was uniquely hyped up for multiple reasons.

The first was his two-way talent, which had offered teams the prospect of signing both a quality starting pitcher and a game-changing hitter. The second was Ohtani already had professional experience -- he arrived stateside as a 23-year-old with multiple years of reps under his belt in Nippon Professional Baseball, where he won the Pacific League MVP award in 2016.

Because of his two-way ability, Ohtani had two notable major league debuts for the Angels -- first as a hitter, hitting a single on the first pitch he saw as part of a 1-for-5 day at the plate, and then next as a pitcher days later when he struck out six batters in six innings and gave up three hits.

Kris Bryant, 2015, Chicago Cubs

The attention for Bryant's debut might be best explained by his place in the lineup for his first big league game. Bryant batted fourth as he became the first Cubs player to make their debut in the cleanup spot since Heinz Becker 73 years earlier during World War II. Bryant had been named minor league player of the year the previous season after hitting 43 home runs with 110 RBIs in Double-A and Triple-A action.

Bryant's first game didn't come with a marquee moment though, as he struck out three times and the Cubs lost to the San Diego Padres.

Bryce Harper, 2012, Washington Nationals

Anticipation for Harper's big league debut began building in 2009, when he was the subject of a Sports Illustrated cover feature crowning the then-16 year old "baseball's chosen one" and "the most exciting prodigy since LeBron." Another rare teenage position player debut, Harper got the call-up to the big leagues at age 19 with the Nationals looking to add offensive pop to a lineup that had just lost stalwart Ryan Zimmerman to injury.

Harper would indeed add a boost to Washington's order in his opening game, hitting a double in the seventh inning and adding a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the ninth. He wouldn't leave with a win, though, as the Dodgers eventually walked off a 4-3 victory in extra innings.

Mike Trout, 2011, Los Angeles Angels

Another entry to the short list of position players to make their MLB debuts as teenagers, Trout joins Griffin, Soto, Harper and a handful more in an exclusive group of eight. Trout came to the Angels from Double-A, where he had racked up 115 hits and stolen 33 bases across 91 games the year before.

Trout's first appearance was nondescript in performance -- the outfielder came to the plate three times and went 0-for-3 -- but his team did win 4-3.

Stephen Strasburg, 2010, Washington Nationals

Considered to be one of the best pitching prospects of all time, Strasburg was the first pick in the 2009 MLB draft after a dominant run at San Diego State -- and it didn't take long for him to quickly start rising through the minor leagues. He boasted an ERA of 1.30 across 55 innings of Double-A and Triple-A work in 2010, leading to Washington giving him a call-up to the big leagues in June.

Strasburg's major league debut proved to be one of the most memorable ever, with the 21-year-old phenom striking out 14 batters -- including each of the last seven he faced -- and conceding only two runs in seven innings for the win.

Mark Prior, 2002, Chicago Cubs

Another highly regarded pitching prospect, Prior also saw his star rise as an ace for a school in Southern California. As a junior at USC in 2001 he struck out 202 batters and amassed a 15-1 record with a 1.69 ERA. His success continued in the minor leagues where he posted a 2.29 ERA in 2002 across 51 innings of Double-A and Triple-A ball before earning a May call-up at Wrigley Field.

Prior's outing in Chicago also matched the hype -- he struck out 10 batters and gave up two runs in six innings as the Cubs notched a 7-4 win.

Ichiro Suzuki, 2001, Seattle Mariners

The first Japanese-born position player to play in the United States, Ichiro wasn't exactly an up-and-coming prospect when he took the field in Seattle for the first time -- he was actually 27 years old with well over a half-decade of professional experience in Japan. Still, the intrigue over how Suzuki's game as a position player would translate to MLB was real.

The answer to that question? His game translated quite well, and it happened right away. He recorded two hits in five at-bats as the Mariners leadoff man in Seattle's Opening Day win.