MLB rumors: Snitker’s plan for Grissom, Cardinals trade block, Yankees whispers, and more

Brian Snitker reveals the plan for Vaughn Grissom, SS

The Atlanta Braves have an overloaded amount of talent at shortstop both now and in the future. The good news is it could be great for Atlanta, even providing them an option to get Marcell Ozuna fewer and fewer at-bats.

The bad news is there are only so many innings to give all the talent time to stay in a groove, get at-bats, etc. at the big league level.

Orlando Arcia is out with a fractured wrist, and that leaves the position open for one of the youngsters, Vaughn Grissom and Braden Shewmake. When posed with the question of which one to give an opportunity to, the Braves said, “why not both?”

Manager Brian Snitker revealed that he plans to give both of them opportunities in the field depending on a variety of factors, including who plays well and what the matchups are.

Shewmake bats left, Grissom right, so it’s possible that the starting pitcher on any given night could determine who gets the start. Then again, if one of the players is in a groove, you don’t necessarily want to pull those important developmental innings away from him just because of a rough matchup. Especially since battling through those tough, opposite-hand pitching matchups early in a big-league career could be formative for development.

Snitker has a lot to balance here, clearly. But being open to flexibility on this front is the right move.