Why Vaughn Grissom's Return From IL Could Be Game-Changer For Red Sox

Grissom, acquired in an offseason trade from the Atlanta Braves, has just 236 career MLB plate appearances — with mixed results — and remains a work in progress defensively at age 23.

But the hope is Grissom's return from the injured list Friday will mark the beginning of some much-needed stability at second base for Boston. The keystone has been a revolving door for several years — basically since Dustin Pedroia's career wound down — and it's been a huge pain point early in 2024.

After the 2017 season, Dustin Pedroia underwent a knee surgery that essentially marked the end of his career. Since then, Red Sox second basemen (35 players) rank 26th in wRC+, 26th in defense, and 27th in WAR at the position. Hopefully today starts a new era of stability there.

— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) May 3, 2024

The Red Sox entered Friday ranked dead-last in fWAR at second base, with their minus-1.5 mark on its own island. The second-worst second-base fWAR (minus-0.5) belonged to the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox, two teams with a combined 13-49 record.

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Boston has had issues at the position offensively, with a .163 batting average (last), a .443 OPS (last) and a 19 wRC+ (last). And Red Sox second basemen have been no great shakes defensively, either, especially when coupled with their inconsistency on the other side of the bag. Boston's middle infield has been a problem, no matter how you slice it, and Trevor Story's season-ending shoulder injury served as a possible death knell.

Yet, somehow, the Red Sox have weathered the storm, going 18-14 through 32 games. Boston has its starting pitching to thank, despite the injury bug biting the rotation, as well. But Grissom's return could provide a boost where the Red Sox need it most. It comes at the perfect time, too, as the Sox are staring at three games against the Minnesota Twins, winners of 10 straight, followed by two games against the Braves, owners of MLB's best record.

"I think in the future, (Grissom's) going to be one of those guys who hits for average early in his career, and he's going to keep building up and keep getting stronger and he's going to hit homers," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said back in spring training. "I'm very excited about him."

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Will Grissom blossom into a superstar? Who knows. While his size and skill set are reminiscent of a young Xander Bogaerts, there's still some fine-tuning Grissom must accomplish to reach his full potential.

There's reason to be optimistic about his future, though, hence why Boston felt comfortable trading Chris Sale for the young infielder. Any sort of consistency at second base would be a step in the right direction.

Six different players — Enmanuel Valdez, Pablo Reyes, Ceddanne Rafaela, Zack Short, David Hamilton and Connor Wong — have logged time at second base for Boston this season. That list will grow Friday when Grissom makes his long-awaited Red Sox debut.

If all goes according to plan, the door then will stop spinning — now and well into the future, as Grissom is under club control through 2029 and thus remains a building block for a franchise ushering in a new era.

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