Down on the farm: After disappointing season, Red Sox' Vaughn Grissom ‘wouldn’t change last year for anything’

WORCESTER — Vaughn Grissom stood in front of his locker at WooSox media day, Thursday afternoon, fielding numerous questions as to what his future may hold with the team.

When Boston acquired Grissom from the Braves on Dec. 30, 2023, for the eventual National League Cy Young winner Chris Sale, it was with the intention he’d be the future second baseman.

Instead, injuries plagued Grissom beginning last January when he tweaked his groin during “Story Camp” and then suffered injuries to both his hamstrings, followed by getting sick with the flu, and ending the year with the WooSox.

“I wouldn’t change last year for anything,” Grissom said about his tumultuous first year in the Red Sox organization to Boston Sports Journal. “It would have been great if it had rolled out a different way. I learned a lot about myself that I feel like I’m going to need for the rest of my career. I’m learning what I need to do to prepare myself. I learned a lot of things. If it had happened this year, it could have been worse. There are a lot of ways to look at it, but I’d rather see the greater in it.”

With last season behind him, he is concentrating on maximizing his potential as a player in an attempt to rejoin the Red Sox.

“Control the controllable,” said Grissom. “You don’t make any decisions; the only thing you can do is put yourself in a good spot.”

Grissom worked out at first base on Thursday afternoon doing backhand drills around the bag with WooSox manager Chad Tracy. 

“You know what, I don’t know,” Grissom said on Thursday about playing either first base or left field in Worcester. “Hopefully, to be versatile, at least learn the positions, to have in my back pocket.”

While in the minors playing in the Braves and Sox’ systems, Grissom has played at second base, shortstop, and third base. He was going to work out in left field with Atlanta to help him find a spot on the Braves big league roster before he was traded to the Red Sox.

After talking to the coaching staff and senior director of player development Brian Abraham the team has given him clearer direction. 

“We talk about versatility all the time with a lot of our guys," said Abraham on Friday afternoon at Polar Park. "A guy who’s been on the right side of the dirt. So having him play some first base should be something he can handle and get some work in. I know Trace (Chad Tracy) and Iggy Suarez will make sure to get him the reps, and we'll see what happens and hopefully get him in a game at some point."

After the Red Sox optioned Grissom to Worcester before camp broke down in Fort Myers, Alex Cora told reporters the 24-year-old did everything the team asked of him this offseason. He worked out in Orlando and focused on putting on weight. Grissom said that he had a normal offseason and arrived at camp weighing 220.1 pounds, not the previously reported 221 pounds. The infielder looks noticeably bigger than last season, something that should help him get through the grid of a full big-league schedule.

“I had more time to work out,” said Grissom. “I went to Winter Ball the previous year; I worked up until I went to spring training. Obviously I got hurt, and I had to focus on other things to try and get back. It is what it is.”

Grissom had an underwhelming spring that resulted in his demotion to Worcester. He went 6-for-34 (.176 batting average) with two doubles, three RBI, six runs, and six strikeouts in 13 games. Kristian Campbell’s fast rise through the minors last season and the emergence of David Hamilton this spring pushed Grissom down the depth chart.

The decision to send Grissom down to the minors wasn’t easy, but with the emergence of Campbell while in camp, who ultimately won the starting second base job, it left him without a position. 

The Red Sox want Grissom to play every day and receive regular at-bats. If he had made the Opening Day roster, he would have been in a bench role, whereas in Worcester, he will see consistent playing time.

“Just go down there and do your thing,” Cora said. “As a player, especially where he’s at right now, just go down there and kill it. Be selfish. Do your thing. Show everybody that you can be a big leaguer. And not only with us, right? I think in the industry. Show them that you’re still young, you’re still a good athlete, and just go. But this is the route we’re going. We haven’t yet made a decision about second base, whatever. But we’re getting close. And he’s not in the equation. He needs to play, too. He needs to go down there and play.”

If you read between the lines of Cora’s comments, it sounds as if Grissom is facing an uphill battle in the Sox’ organization and that his playing time in Triple-A will be a showcase for the other 29 teams in the league.

Grissom, on the other hand, is optimistic about his future with the team.

“I’m optimistic about my future here,” Grissom said. “But the only thing I can do is play each inning, play each pitch as a new one, and play hard. And if whoever makes decisions makes a decision that’s in my favor, it’s good. And if not, then yeah, maybe there’s a home elsewhere. But I don’t really think about that. And that’s it.”

Grissom wasn’t upset by Cora’s comments; he acknowledged that players need to prove themselves every day.

There’s been a lot of attention paid to new Red Sox third baseman Alex Bregman. Grissom offered some insight as to how the two-time World Series champion helped him during the spring.

“He’s good to talk to about your swing (decisions),” said Grissom. “He’s really good at talking the swing and talking the game. There’s not a ton that we went over; he helped break down the swing and break down the game. Different ways of trying to win ball games were pretty intriguing and interesting. Someone like him coming to an organization like this, he’s coming with a lot of insight and playoff experience in Houston. He expects to win. That alone, I feel like that alone was the biggest thing.”

Grissom started at second base and batted fifth for WooSox during their home opener on Friday afternoon at Polar Park; he went 1-for-3 with a walk. He hit his first homer of the year in the WooSox’ 10-5 loss on the road to the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp on Tuesday night. In total, he’s hitting .300 through the first three games of the young MiLB season.

Overall, Grissom just wants to get better as a player as a whole and get back on a big league roster in the near future. 

“I want to get better at every aspect of the game so I can help any team that I’m on win,” Grissom said. “So yeah, trying to get that grip back or whatever. I did miss a little bit of time last year. So once I got rolling last year, the season was over. So I can’t wait to get back to that spot this year.”