Who ends up as the Red Sox Opening Day second baseman?
It doesn’t look like Alex Bregman will be part of the double play duo with shortstop Trevor Story, at least for now. Rafael Devers has yet to see game action with just three weeks until the Red Sox play the Rangers in Arlington to open the season.
Devers is expected to make his Grapefruit League debut this week, and as of right now, it looks like he will be at designated hitter.
Bregman has seen time at second base but only on the backfields at Fenway South. He’s played third base in every spring game with the exception of one where he was penciled in as designated hitter.
Alex Cora has maintained all spring that Bregman’s role hasn’t been identified and that the team would announce where he’ll play on their own terms. The competition for second base is an interesting topic, and no one has a stranglehold on the position.
Vaughn Grissom has seen the most time at second base, playing 41 innings, seeing the most time at the position this spring. Kristian Campbell has played 26 innings at second and 21 innings in left field. David Hamilton has split time at both second base and shortstop, playing 25 innings at second base and 23 1/3 innings at shortstop.
Out of the three players vying for the starting job, Hamilton has enjoyed the best camp both offensively and defensively. On the flipside, Grissom is beginning to heat up at the plate and could force the Sox’ hand to land the starting job.
Grissom’s first year was one he’d like to forget. It was littered with hamstring injuries; he got the flu and lost weight, setting him back further, resulting in him seeing more time playing for the WooSox than the Red Sox. This spring, he came into camp by adding more muscle to fill out his body to help withstand a full baseball season.
At the plate, Grissom is 5-for-22 (.227), after starting the spring 1-for-13, but has now hit in three straight games, going 4-for-9 with two walks, two doubles, and two RBI.
Campbell hasn’t hit at all this spring; he’s 3-for-25 (.120) with four walks and two total bases. He’s three for his last 14 with two walks. The fast-rising prospect has looked lost at the plate, and with Hamilton and Grissom clearly lapping him for the second base job, he’s started to see more time in left field.
The Georgia Tech alum has been working hard at second base, learning the position and footwork needed from the position.
“Campbell, he’s learning,” Cora said to reporters at JetBlue Park at the end of February. “The turns are getting better. He has range. He has good hands. We’re working hard with him at second base.”
Boston is excited about Campbell’s athleticism at both the plate and in the field, with second base seen as a possibility to get him on the Major League roster. Others have looked better, and it seems like he needs more minor league at-bats with the WooSox before the Sox can legitimately consider him as a regular big leaguer.
Hamilton is a better bench option for the Red Sox, giving Cora options off the bench with his versatility in the middle of the infield and his lightning speed. There’s a chance he could also help the Red Sox in the outfield. Boston has considered using him in center field, a position he played at times while with the WooSox.
One knock on Hamilton has been his bat and it is not translating to the big league level. Despite owning a .697 OPS last year, Cora sees Hamilton as a different hitter, adding 10 pounds of muscle to his frame.
“He’s stronger. There’s conviction behind [his swing],” Cora said. “He did a good job last year. When he found it, he understood he needed to be more direct to the baseball and hit line drives all over the place.
“Obviously what he does on the basepaths is unreal. We’ll try to give him as many at-bats as possible [in spring training] and see what happens.”
Hamilton’s speed is a game changer; he’s stolen 33 bases over the last 98 games. With Jarren Duran at the top of the lineup, Hamilton offered a nasty one-two punch at the top of the Sox lineup. The Yankees saw that firsthand back on June 16 at Fenway Park when he stole four bases and scored three times.
“I want to be more consistent this season and have more games like that,” Hamilton said to The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier. “That’s the biggest thing, to be the same player every day.”
The Texas native missed the final month of the season after he fractured his left index finger trying to lay down a bunt. His injury impacted the Red Sox lineup as well as their defense in the field.
“We missed him,” Cora said. “We had a stretch when we had one of the best offenses in baseball, and he was right in the middle of it. He’s an important player.”
Hamilton’s value off the bench might be more of a deterrent to him winning the second base job. Grissom could slot in and platoon with the speedy infielder while Campbell gets much-needed at-bats with the WooSox.
Once Devers is ready to play the field, he will likely return to third base, which means Bregman slides to second base. At that point, the conversation of who is the starting second baseman is moot, and the Sox have three capable infielders to serve as depth pieces for the 2025 campaign.
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