No. 1 prospect Wander Franco makes powerful impression with homer as Rays top Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Tampa Bay Rays used their Grapefruit League game to showcase two of baseball’s top shortstop prospects, and Wander Franco hit a blast for the deciding edge over Oneil Cruz.

Franco, the consensus No. 1 overall prospect, made a powerful first impression when he smacked the first pitch he saw over the right-field fence to propel the Rays to a 3-1 victory in six innings Wednesday afternoon at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Fla.

Wander Franco, baseball's top prospect, hit a first-pitch fastball for a homer to right field off Miguel Yajure in the second inning to give the Tampa Bay Rays a 1-0 lead over the Pirates in Port Charlotte. https://t.co/WA8JHn770t

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) March 3, 2021

With two outs in the third inning, the 20-year-old Franco crushed a solo shot to right field off Miguel Yajure for a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, Franco had another chance for heroics when he came to bat with two outs and runners on first and second after Nick Mears walked Ji-Man Choi and Yushi Tsutsogo, but Franco grounded out to Cruz to end the inning. Franco hit a two-out single to left in the sixth off Shea Spitzbarth to finish 2 for 3 at the plate.

The 6-foot-7 Cruz, who also ranks among the top 100 prospects, popped up to Franco at short in the second inning, then struck out looking on three pitches by Jeffrey Springs in the fifth. In the bottom of that inning, Cruz made his debut in center field, replacing Brian Goodwin when Ji-Hwan Bae came in as a late-game substitute at shortstop.

Steven Brault got the start for the Pirates and escaped the first inning unscathed. The left-hander saw three lefty hitters out of the four he faced, threw 10 of his 19 pitches for strikes and recorded a strikeout and a walk.

“Yeah, I mean I walked a guy with two outs on four pitches,” Brault said of walking Mike Zunino. “That’s about as bad as it gets. But, other than that, I didn’t think they were bad misses. In general, it was pretty good. I’m happy with it. Quick one. Just get ready for next time, but it was good.”

Rays outfielder Austin Meadows, acquired from the Pirates in the Chris Archer trade in July 2018, hit a two-run homer to right field off James Marvel in the fifth inning to give Tampa Bay a three-run lead.

The Pirates made it 3-1 in the sixth when Troy Stokes Jr. hit a line drive to left for a leadoff double, then scored when Rodolfo Castro hit one to deep center that bounced off the glove of Garrett Whitley and went over the wall for a double.