Vaughn Grissom

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Vaughn Anthony Grissom

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Biographical Information[edit]

Shortstop Vaughn Grissom was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 11th round of the 2019 amateur draft out of a high school in Oviedo, FL where he was a teammate and close friend of Riley Greene, who went 5th overall in the ssame draft. He began his pro career by hitting .288/.361/.400 in 44 games with the GCL Braves that year, then sat out the 2020 season when the minor leagues were shut down by the Coronavirus pandemic.

He moved up the prospect ranks with another good season when he returned to action in 2021, batting .311 in 75 games for the Augusta Greenjackets of the Low-A East before teeing off to a .378 average in 12 games for the Rome Braves of the High-A East after a late-season promotion. Altogether, his batting line was .319/.418/.464 in 87 games, with 64 runs scored, 7 homers and 43 RBIs. He was named an organizational All-Star at the end of the season. He was considered the #5 prospect in the Braves' system at the start of 2022 when he returned to Rome, now in the South Atlantic League, and continued to hit very well. On June 16th, he made headlines with a tremendous game against the Asheville Tourists, hitting grand slams in back-to-back innings as part of a 22-1 rout. Not considered a power hitter, he explained that he had not hit a grand slam since he was maybe 12 years old, and had hardly hit any long balls in high school. The two long balls came in the 8th and 9th innings, and the game came on the heels of back-to-back three-hit performances after he had struggled in May. After 74 games with Rome, he was promoted to the AA Mississippi Braves, having hit .312 with 11 homers and 55 RBIs. He continued to mash in the Southern League, batting .363 in 22 games to earn his first call-up to the Show.

In his major league debut with Atlanta on August 10, 2022, against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, he started at second base and batted ninth. He went 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs, hitting his first career homer in the 7th inning, a two-run shot over the Green Monster off Darwinzon Hernandez. He also added a stolen base in the 8-4 win. He hit .291 in 41 games the rest of the way, with 5 homers and 18 RBIs and an OPS+ of 119, filling in well at second base for an injured Ozzie Albies. However, he was blanked in the postseason, striking out in all three of his plate appearances as the Braves were upset by the Philadelphia Phillies in the Division Series. In 2023, with the departure of long-time shortstop Dansby Swanson via free agency opening up a spot in the infield, the Braves considered using Grissom at the position, but decided otherwise as they did not think his fielding would be good enough. The player who did get the job, Orlando Arcia, was an All-Star, while Vaughn went back to the minors, where he had an excellent season with the AAA Gwinnett Stripers, hitting .330 in 102 games, with 74 runs and 61 RBIs. He also played23 games for Atlanta, and hit .280, but with no homers and 9 RBIs. Along with the lack of homers, he drew just two walks, so his OPS+ was just 78 in spite of a decent batting average. He was again on the postseason roster, but only got one at-bat in the return match with the Phillies in the Division Series - and he struck out again.

On December 30, 2023, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox in return for former ace starter Chris Sale; the Red Sox threw in $17 million to cover part of Sale's remaining salary.

He is not related to former Braves star Marquis Grissom.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Mark Bowman: "Eyes turn to Grissom at shortstop for Braves", mlb.com, January 23, 2023. [1]
  • Mark Bowman: "'Just watch': Wash is a big believer in Grissom at shortstop", mlb.com, February 13, 2023. [2]
  • Molly Burkhardt: "Grissom makes history with HR, steal in debut: 21-year-old middle infielder impresses with all-around game: 'Nothing fazed him'", mlb.com, August 11, 2022. [3]
  • Jacob Resnick: "Grand slams in back-to-back innings for Grissom at High-A Rome", mlb.com, June 16, 2022. [4]

Related Sites[edit]

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