Vaughn Grissom hopes to help the Boston Red Sox address their infield problems.
The Red Sox activated the 23-year-old second baseman from the Injured List on May 2, after he missedthe first month of the season with a groin injury. Grissom is new to the organization; the Red Sox traded former ace Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves for him on December 30, 2023.
While Grissom was rehabbing with the Worcester Red Sox, the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, NewBostonPost conducted a Five Questions interview with him at Polar Park on Friday, April 19.
1. You were traded from the Atlanta Braves this offseason for Chris Sale. What was your reaction to being traded straight up for that kind of player?
Yeah it was insane. I didn’t believe it for a long time. It’s one of those things where you’re like “What?!” You don’t really know how to act or respond. Chris Sale was such a big part of growing up and watching baseball, and he was always on TV. It was pretty cool.
2. You had a 0.82 ERA pitching as a senior in high school. Was there any interest from pro teams in picking you as a pitcher?
[Laughs] Great question. Great question. I wish. I think I was too far of a better hitter than I was a pitcher. I don’t know if I would’ve needed to gain some velocity and go to college if I was a pitcher and try to break in that way. I would’ve loved to have seen what it would’ve been, but I think the route I chose with hitting was the better choice, but I wish I could pitch — day in and day out. I just didn’t have enough in the elbow.
3. You made your MLB debut at Fenway Park on August 10, 2022, and your first hit was a home run against the Red Sox and the ball went over the Green Monster and out of the park. Were you able to get your first home run ball as a souvenir and was it tough for them to find?
I kind of only heard about it, but from what I heard, they tracked the person down. They were walking out of a building and kind of just stumbled upon it. It kind of like fell right next to them. I think they gave it away for a broken bat, a baseball, and some tickets for the next game. I don’t know if they were a baseball fan, either, so it was a perfect scenario.
4. What did you think of Fenway during your first game there?
Just the authenticity of everything: the field, the fans. The feel it brings is super cool. It’s a lot different than Atlanta in a way. It’s smaller, but it’s so perfect. It’s like a museum. You feel an honor being able to play here for them.
5. When did you know you wanted to be a big leaguer and when did you realize it was something you could achieve?
I had my sight set on college first, so I thought that was the big leagues growing up because not a lot of my family has been to college, let alone played sports in college or got a scholarship or anything like that. So I definitely wanted to knock out college first and that was a big goal of mine. I think around senior year, I started to get some questionnaires [from scouts]. I always did good in summer ball, so I think the junior year fall was really big for me.
[Tigers outfielder] Riley Greene was our center fielder [in high school] so there would be like 60 scouts there and I knew I just had to convince one of them. I knew I had a knack for putting the ball in play and I just hoped that someone would see that. Maybe my swing wasn’t the best and I didn’t know how to put the ball in the air yet, but I could hit the ball fair often and, if someone could see that, I could have a pretty good shot. I thought about it as if — if I could get my foot in the door, I’ll be able to work my way up. I won’t stop working until I get where I need to be.
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Screenshot of MLB Network broadcast 
