Braves Rumors: Vaughn Grissom future, rotation fix, Josh Hader buzz
Braves Rumors: Vaughn Grissom is too good to be wasted in Triple-A
Vaughn Grissom continues to rake for the Atlanta Braves Triple-A affiliate, the Gwinnett Stripers. On Saturday with the help of a shutout performance on the mound from Michael Soroka, Grissom continued his red-hot streak at the plate by going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk to his credit. That now brings his minor-league slash line this year to .328/.413/.496.
More importantly, he’s just been racking up multi-hit outings at an absurd rate, consistently making a positive impact offensively. In fact, Garrett Spain of Batter Powered noted that this is the 23rd time this season he’s reached base three or more times while also noting that he has only seven games where he’s failed to reach base and 10 games in which he’s reached base four times or more.
times Vaughn Grissom has reached base three or more times in a game: 23 (including tonight)
— Garrett Spain (@BravesMILB) August 13, 2023
times Vaughn Grissom has reached base four or more times in a game: 10
times Vaughn Grissom has failed to reach base in a game this season: 7
There obviously isn’t a spot on the big-league roster for Grissom with Atlanta right now with him staying at shortstop or either middle infield spot. Ozzie Albies is crushing and Orlando Arcia remains one of the most underrated players in baseball. But how do the Braves handle Grissom when he clearly looks like a player too valuable to keep in the minor leagues for too much longer?
Where you would clearly push back on him being ready for a return to the bigs would be his glove. But Grissom is also showing improvement there as, per Spain, he’s not committed an error in 30-straight games. Maybe that’s a low bar, but he was at a pretty low bar defensively when he had to spell Arcia due to injury for the Braves earlier this season.
I would suspect that Grissom will be a September call-up once expanded rosters start to come into play. But long-term, that could be another audition for Grissom. Atlanta could easily give him opportunities to prove his value as a trade asset, but then use him as that in the offseason. Or maybe they look to move Arcia and bring Grissom up? That seems less likely, but not implausible.
Grissom’s future is very much in question as to what the Braves will do with him. What’s not in question is that, whether in a trade or on the field, he’s a valuable commodity moving forward.