Spring Training is in full swing for the Atlanta Braves, and this is a team with not a lot of holes. In fact the Braves really only have one position that is slightly in question, and that is shortstop. With the departure of Dansby Swanson in the offseason there were some questions of whether or not the Atlanta Braves would go out and bring in another shortstop in the offseason, but they didn’t.
Now, as expected by most people who follow the Braves, Vaughn Grissom will have an opportunity this spring to show he deserves to be the everyday shortstop for the Atlanta Braves. Thursday night on The Jon Chuckery Show, 92.9 The Game’s own Atlanta Braves insider, Grant McAuley, joined the show and explained how Grissom will have the opportunity to prove he’s the Braves’ everyday shortstop.
With the way the Braves have had success calling up their young players lately and getting an immediate impact going back all the way to Ronald Acuña Jr and Ozzie Albies, then Austin Riley, and of course this past year with Spencer Strider and reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II you would think those success stories have to give the Braves confidence and also allows them to have patience with Vaughn Grisson, and it prevented them from having to overpay for Dansby Swanson.
Grissom got off to a hot start with the Braves when he got called up to the big league club in August, including hitting a homerun in his first game, similar to Austin Riley he cooled off for the rest of his season.
However, Grant believes he will get plenty of opportunities in Spring Training and in Grapefruit league play to prove he’s the everyday shortstop saying “He would love to play everyday, and if he’s able to go out there and show the team what he needs to in the spring, he’s going to have the opportunity I think to do that because I really don’t feel like they’re going to be looking to split up this playing time and interrupt what could be some really important development for him, not to mention the stability that he can bring to that position which is right now in a state of flux.”
However, even though the job is Grissom’s to lose and the Braves want to be able to just have Vaughn go out there and be the everyday shortstop Grant isn’t yet convinced that will actually happen saying “I mean in the best case scenario you would love to just put the guy out there and kind of take that approach where it’s like hey this is our guy, it works, and you know there’s really no reason to change that. I don’t know if that’s the most realistic expectation just for a young player that he’s going to be able to do that…”
Grissom has been spending all of the offseason, and so far all of Spring Training training with Ron Washington in the field. We will all find out soon enough how this will play out for the Braves and Vaughn Grissom, but it is safe to say that the ball is in Grissom’s court and the shortstop job is his to lose.