Red Sox' Vaughn Grissom 'dominating' pitchers during rehab in Florida; could he replace Trevor Story at shortstop in the short term?
The Red Sox are likely going to be without Trevor Story for an extended period of time following his shoulder injury on Friday night. The team learned Story has a left shoulder subluxation and will see another doctor in Boston on Monday to determine the next steps.
Internally, the Red Sox have Pablo Reyes and Ceddanne Rafaela on the big league roster, David Hamilton was recalled from Triple-A Worcester in the short-term. Another player that could get consideration at shortstop is rehabbing infielder Vaughn Grissom.
The Red Sox have been without Grissom all spring following a groin injury sustained during drills down at Fort Myers. Grissom is expected to begin a full rehab stint in the coming weeks. He is currently in Florida with Rob Refsnyder, working to get back to the Red Sox.
“Ref said that Vaughn is dominating rookie ball pitchers in live BP,” said Cora to reporters on Friday night. “And then Vaughn says Ref is hitting the ball harder than anyone in camp.”
Both players will be in Boston for the club’s home opener at Fenway Park on Tuesday afternoon.
Once Boston finds out the full extent of Story’s injury and his the amount of time he is expected to miss, the club can begin to figure out temporary or long term plans for the shortstop position.
Grissom has played 19 games at shortstop for the Braves from 2022-2023. He also has 231 games at the position under his belt in the minors, making the young player more than capable of filling in while Story is down.
The 23-year-old was acquired from the Braves for Chris Sale, with Boston planning on utilizing Grissom at second base. It’s likely the club will not want to deviate from their plans with Grissom.
Gonzalez would have also made sense to come up from Triple-A Worcester. Gonzalez has been tearing the cover off the ball for the WooSox; he’s hitting .375 with three homers, two triples, 10 RBIs, and a 1.365 OPS in seven games. He could have also offered positional versatility and playing all over the diamond, giving Cora options to play him and mix-and-match others at the shortstop position.
The Red Sox opted to not add Gonzalez due to wanting another left-handed hitter. “We’re going to platoon at short, we’re going to platoon at second,” Cora said on Saturday in Anaheim. “We’ll be creative.”
Hamilton played 15 games for the Red Sox last season, 13 at shortstop and two at second base, he also committed two errors over that span.