Vaughn Grissom will debut with the Red Sox this upcoming season, getting a fresh start and a stable starting position on a team that’s left the 23-year-old in high spirits since being traded this offseason to Boston.
Coming off back-to-back last-place finishes in the American League East, there’s plenty of room for improvement for a still-young Red Sox team. However, with that in mind, Grissom is positive about how the current roster shapes up, over two months ahead of spring training.
“We’re young and exciting and then we have veterans just like every other team,” Grissom told reporters recently. “We have a couple of veterans out there that know the game’s ins and outs. We have (Rafael Devers) and (Trevor) Story and quite a few other guys. I’m really excited to get with this group. This is kind of a rebuild, it seems like, the way people are talking about it, but not really. We got a good core so all it takes is a little heater and you never know what could happen.”
Boston finished 78-84 with a handful of areas for improvement, one of which Grissom helps fill.
With just 64 games of Major League Baseball experience, Grissom too enters a much more favorable situation in Boston. Back in Atlanta, where Grissom rose in the prospect ranks with the Braves, the versatile infielder spent most of 2023 in Triple-A. There wasn’t a spot for Grissom, even with Atlanta testing him out in the outfield — where he played winter baseball in Puerto Rico in December before the trade.
“I’m feeling grown a little bit more. The powers coming through,” Grissom added. “I’m excited to just go out there and play. We’ll just let it all play out there, but I feel prepared and I hope the Red Sox feel that too.”
Grissom, slated to take over as Boston’s go-to second baseman in 2024, has several previous ties to the Red Sox — aside from belting his first-career MLB home run at Fenway Park in 2022.
During his high school playing days in Florida, Grissom crossed paths with Boston first baseman Triston Casas and mentioned a dinner with pitcher Lucas Giolito last offseason.
