Atlanta Braves officially call up Vaughn Grissom
The Atlanta Braves, as we suspected, made it official this morning when they called up SS Vaughn Grissom from AAA Gwinnett to replace the injured Orlando Arcia.
Grissom, an 11th round pick out of high school by the Braves in the 2019 MLB Draft, was an injury replacement late in the season last year for second baseman Ozzie Albies. He started off hot, batting .420/.463/.660 through his first 14 games at 2nd before cooling off and eventually being in the short side of a platoon with Orlando Arcia.
Grissom was sent by the Braves over the winter to New Orleans to work on his defense with infield guru and 3rd base coach Ron Washington, in an effort to bolster his bid for the starting shortstop job vacated by Dansby Swanson, now an (enthusiastic) member of the Cubs.
Grissom and prospect Braden Shewmake were battling for the SS job in spring training before the Braves threw a curveball into the proceedings by optioning both to AAA and giving the job to Arcia, who later received a three-year contract extension. Arcia played well both defensively and offensively in the role, and the hope is that he will return to the team soon. Being placed on the 10-day IL today, there is no official timeline for his return as of yet, but typically even microfractures in the wrist take multiple weeks to heal.
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Grissom's had a torrid start to the AAA schedule, batting .366/.458/.585 with one home run, five extra base hits, and eight runs scored in only ten games for Gwinnett.
The ideal scenario for Atlanta feels like it's for Grissom to perform well offensively, Arcia to heal relatively quickly, and then Atlanta to use Grissom in left field as a way to keep his bat in the lineup. Platooning Grissom and Rosario in left field gives you options to use both Rosario and Travis d'Arnaud (once he's off the concussion IL) at designated hitter and eliminate the need to carry the black hole that is Marcell Ozuna on your roster or in your lineup.
PODCAST: The Atlanta Braves have to move on from Marcell Ozuna
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