It was Aug. 10, 2022, and the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves had been on the town for what promised to be among the many most fascinating sequence left on the schedule. The floundering Red Sox had fallen three video games below .500 and in the event that they harbored any hope of turning their season round, they’d want to start out profitable massive video games in opposition to groups like this.
Then, within the seventh inning and with the Braves main 3-1, an unknown rookie stepped to the plate and shocked the Fenway Park crowd.
Vaughn Grissom, batting ninth and making his MLB debut, smoked a two-run residence run over the Green Monster, stretching Atlanta’s lead in what ended up being a 8-4 win. Grissom was on the time thought to be one among Atlanta’s prime prospects, and since then he’s made the a lot of the few alternatives he’s gotten in Atlanta’s All-Star laden infield.
Now he might name Fenway Park residence for years to return.
Acquired Saturday in alternate for achieved however oft-injured veteran Chris Sale, Grissom is effectively positioned to develop into Boston’s second baseman of the longer term. The former Braves prospect is lower than every week away from his twenty third birthday and stays below crew management for one more six years, and Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow stated they’ve excessive hopes for the gifted younger infielder.
“We saw someone that we felt was a dynamic athlete that can play all over the field and offers a ton of versatility, but who is most likely to settle in at second base as someone with a really strong right-handed bat who has been an elite performer at the minor leagues,” Breslow stated. “I’ve talked long about the exciting emerging core of players around whom we want to build, and that group is growing and we’d certainly count Vaughn in that group.”
In 64 massive league video games Grissom has put up strong numbers regardless of erratic enjoying time, batting .287 with 5 residence runs, 27 RBI and a .745 OPS. His numbers within the minors, nonetheless, have been elite, together with a profession .320 common and .884 OPS with 59 stolen bases since being drafted within the eleventh spherical of the 2019 MLB Draft out of highschool.
This previous season he batted .330 with a .921 OPS in 102 video games at Triple-A, which based on Baseball America was 35% higher than league common, and BA additionally described Grissom as a talented hitter with a sophisticated method and the power to hit the ball exhausting.
“There’s a really athletic body there who has had the versatility to play at second base, at shortstop, I know there were some plans to get him exposure in the outfield,” Breslow stated. “For us he makes the most sense penciling him in at second base every day, and at 22 years old we think there is power to come, really strong bat to ball skills and someone who I think his best years are ahead of him.”
During his remarks Breslow additionally stated he hasn’t met a crew that has an excessive amount of center infield expertise, but when there ever had been such a crew, the Atlanta Braves could be it. The NL East powerhouse has All-Stars Ozzie Albies, Orlando Arcia and Austin Riley below crew management for the subsequent three years and past, and that roster stability basically made Grissom expendable.
Atlanta’s loss could possibly be Boston’s acquire, and now Grissom could have the chance to flourish he by no means would have gotten with the Braves.
Starting pitching nonetheless prime precedence
Coming into the offseason Breslow referred to as buying extra beginning pitching the membership’s prime precedence, however after reportedly signing Lucas Giolito on Friday night time, the Red Sox subtracted from their group by flipping Sale for Grissom.
Does that portend a bigger shift away from the beginning pitcher market? Breslow stated it doesn’t, and on this case they merely discovered the Sale-Grissom swap too good a possibility to go up.
“I would still put starting pitching at the top, didn’t want to be paralyzed by becoming singularly focused on starting pitching that we let an opportunity to improve the longer-term outlook of the team to pass us by,” Breslow stated. “But with that said I think we can continue to scour the starting pitching market both in free agency and through trade.”
Based on Breslow’s public statements and the membership’s current historical past, the popular route at this level is probably going a commerce for a younger, controllable starter. Adding an up-and-coming arm with a confirmed MLB monitor document who might contribute for a number of years earlier than hitting free company could be a boon for the franchise, however whereas these gamers don’t value a lot cash, they are often prohibitively costly by way of the prospects it takes to land them.
“In order to acquire controllable young starting pitching we have to be willing to make difficult decisions and decisions that hurt,” Breslow stated. “But the way you can mitigate those losses is not just to acquire depth, but real quality.”
Though Boston didn’t purchase a pitcher within the deal, Breslow stated buying and selling Sale for Grissom was the form of painful transfer the crew must be prepared to make. Now with the second baseman within the fold it’s simpler to think about Breslow drawing from the group’s spectacular assortment of center infield expertise in a future commerce.
Will he pull it off? Breslow’s proven a willingness to wheel and deal up to now, so who is aware of what could possibly be subsequent down the road.
Source: www.bostonherald.com