Vaughn Grissom’s latest stretch with the Los Angeles Angels has given him a platform, and he used it to take another shot at the Boston Red Sox.
Grissom, who has posted a .250/.311/.386 line in a little more than 300 plate appearances while handling three infield spots with respectable defense, said his success comes down to opportunity and trust. He’s cooled off after a hot start, but he has still been a useful pickup for the Angels, who only had to give up outfield prospect Isaiah Jackson to get him.
“I think I would probably attribute that to the computer, you know what I mean?” Grissom said.
“You have to watch the game and I think I’m damn near the same player, it’s just the opportunity, these people believe in me and in Boston there was no belief in the player. It is what it is, some people watch the game, some people go on the computer.”
That’s the kind of quote that makes it clear he’s still not over his time in Boston.
To be fair, Grissom did not exactly get a long leash with the Red Sox. He was outspoken about management while he was there, and that clearly didn’t help his case. Still, he was also outplaying David Hamilton and Nick Sogard at Triple-A and never got the promotion he was chasing.
Boston also has its own reputation to answer for. Under Craig Breslow, the front office has drawn plenty of criticism for leaning too hard on the numbers, and his communication has been so widely questioned that there were even rumblings this summer that the organization needed a “Breslow translator.” Fans have also been frustrated by some of his moves in free agency and on the trade market.
Even so, Grissom is doing all this while praising the Angels, which is a choice in itself. That’s the same franchise that couldn’t win with Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani. Glass houses and all that.
And while Grissom has found a more comfortable setting in Anaheim, he hasn’t suddenly turned into a star. Baseball Savant has him below average in every category it tracks except whiff rate, including defense and baserunning.
There’s nothing wrong with being a slightly below-average major leaguer; that alone puts him ahead of most people. But Grissom is talking like he has been proving a point on an All-Star level, and the numbers don’t really back that up.
For now, he’s happy with where he is, and the Angels are happy enough to keep using him. The bigger picture, though, is pretty stark: the Angels are the worst team in the league by record, while the Red Sox are in pole position for the American League’s second Wild Card.
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