It wasn't supposed to be this way. When the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves pulled off a preseason trade, it was supposed to be win for the Fenway faithful. Instead, Chris Sale is looking like a Cy Young candidate for the Braves and Vaughn Grissom is headed to the injured list again.
Grissom was removed from Saturday's game against the Detroit Tigers during the third inning. It's being reported that Grissom suffered a hamstring strain and will undoubtedly wind up on the 10-day IL once again, based on what manager Alex Cora said after the game.
It was groin injury that saw Grissom begin the 2024 season on the IL back in March. After using a rehab assignment at Triple-A as a tune-up for his Boston tenure, Grissom debuted less than month ago, but was delayed after coming down with the flu. And it hasn't gotten any better. After 23 games, it appears that the Red Sox infielder is going to be sidelined once again, without a return in sight.
Vaughn Grissom’s latest injury might be the final straw for Red Sox fans
Not only will Grissom be making his second trip to the IL, but his brief time with the Red Sox has been anything but impressive. In fact, it's been downright depressing. Grissom is hitting a meager .148/.207/.160 with one extra-base hit. One! Are you kidding? This isn't the player that Red Sox fans were expecting to be taking the field at Fenway as the team's everyday second baseman.
To make matters worse for the Red Sox, it's not as if they have any superb options to take Grissom's spot on the active roster. If Boston doesn't go outside the organization to find a replacement, Red Sox fans will likely be forced to watch Bobby Dalbec take Grissom's spot (the other option is catcher Tyler Heineman). Those are the only two left on the Red Sox's 40-man roster that would be in line to get the call.
"Very unexpected. Feel like I was just seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. So, it sucks."
— NESN (@NESN) June 1, 2024
Vaughn Grissom on straining his right hamstring today vs Detroit | #RedSox pic.twitter.com/0G7UnThzcJ
On the other side, Sale is 8-1 with a 2.12 ERA and 78 punchouts in 63.2 innings of work. He looks very much like the back-to-back Cy Young finalist who took the ball for the Red Sox every fifth day in 2017 and 2018. It also can't be forgotten that Boston sent $17 million with Sale to Atlanta.
Grissom has minor-league options remaining and is under team control for the foreseeable future, so there's no chance that the Red Sox will send the 23-year-old packing just yet. But the Boston faithful are already growing tired of watching Grissom spend his days on the IL or underperform when he's on the field.