It was a lost season for the man on the other side of the now infamous Chris Sale trade.
The Positives
On May 5, 2024, in his second big league game after returning from a Spring Training groin injury, Vaughn Grissom stepped up to the plate in the 8th inning of a two-run game against the Minnesota Twins. After taking a first-pitch ball, Grissom lashed a cutter on the outside part of the plate to the opposite field, missing a home run by just a couple of feet but knocking in two runs with a double.
Three-and-a-half months later, he closed out the final five games of the 2024 season by going 7-16 with two more doubles and two walks.
Don’t worry about what happened in between.
The Negatives
Ok, now you can worry about what happened in between.
Outside of that lone May at-bat against the Twins and then the final five games of the season, the 2024 calendar year was a total disaster for Grissom. He suffered not one but two nagging injuries, straining his hamstring less than a month after returning from his groin injury. In between the injuries, he was completely unable to get into a rhythm at the plate, finishing the year with a slash line of .191/.246/.219 and ZERO homers in 105 at-bats, good for a OPS+ of 31 and a bWAR of -0.2. None of those numbers are typos (I double-checked).
And, disconcertedly, Grissom wasn’t much better in AAA, either. After striking out just 66 times in 102 AAA games over the course of the 2023 season, Grissom’s whiff rate skyrocketed in 2024, with 45 strikeouts in just 55 AAA games.
He did bounce back strongly in September, going on a three-week stretch during which he made more contact, hit three homers, and was one of the best players in the International League. But we already knew that Grissom was capable of being one of the best players in the International League (his career AAA slash line is .307/.408/.459). What he needed to do in 2024 was to cement his status as a big league regular. He didn’t.
Best Moment
He did have a two-homer game in September against the Syracuse Mets, but it feels a little insulting to call a minor league game his best moment. A couple of weeks later, though, he collected three hits against the Rays and was involved in all three of the Sox’ runs in a 3-1 win, scoring two and knocking in one. This was the very last game of the 2024 season and it secured a .500 record for the Sox. Way to post, Vaughn!
The Big Question
Who will win the Spring Training battle for the second base job, Grissom or super prospect Kristian Campbell?
Barring injuries (and with apologies to David Hamilton and Enmanuel Valdez) this is probably going to be the most interesting storyline of Spring Training 2025. In light of the fact that he’s already on the 40-man roster and has already tasted success at the big league level, Grissom will travel to Fort Myers with a leg up on Campbell, particularly since Campbell only played 36 games at second base as he tore through the minor leagues last year. But Campbell is a potential superstar who has destroyed every level of pitching he’s ever faced. Regardless of how Grissom looks, Campbell may force himself into the lineup sooner rather than later, and second base may be the most obvious place for him to land.
2025 And Beyond
At the start of Spring Training 2024, it seemed pretty clear that Grissom would be Red Sox starting second baseman for the next five years. Just eight months later, nothing is clear at all. Thanks to the phosphorescent play of Campbell, the emergence of David Hamilton, the continued development of Marcelo Mayer, and the three remaining years on Trevor Story’s contract, both the near and long-term status of the Red Sox middle infield is completely up in the air. There are a number of possible futures in front of us — but in how many of them does Grissom play a staring role?
His trade value is currently lower than it’s been in years, so I’m not expecting him to get dealt. If I have to guess as of today, I’ll say that he starts the year as the Opening Day second baseman with Campbell in AAA. If he doesn’t establish his big league value within a month or two and Campbell keeps hitting, he’s in trouble.