The Kid is Coming! 24 Year Old Red Sox Star Set to Dethrone Campbell at Second Base

The Boston Red Sox still have 24 days until they open their season in Arlington, Tex. and seemingly infinite permutations of their roster to sort through.

The most high-profile roster competition coming into February was the second-base job, with Vaughn Grissom, Kristian Campbell, and David Hamilton all having a shot. Then, the Red Sox signed Alex Bregman, which threw a wrench in everything.

Bregman is a Gold Glove third baseman, but the Red Sox have Rafael Devers at the hot corner. But as Devers still hasn’t been able to appear in a spring training game due to his slow rehab progression from a pair of shoulder injuries, there’s been plenty of speculation that this could be the year he becomes a designated hitter.

Grissom, 24, may have the most riding on the spring of any position player. Last year, he was supposed to be the everyday second baseman, but he had his season delayed by more than a month and struggled when he was healthy enough to play in the big leagues.

This time around, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald predicted that Grissom would win the starting job out of camp, including the young righty in his 2025 Opening Day roster projection.

“So far Vaughn Grissom has been given the starter treatment. He’s started home games with the clear-cut first-teamers, hasn’t had to go on the longer road trips, and when he, David Hamilton and Kristian Campbell are all available, he’s gotten the start at second base,” Cerullo wrote.

“He hasn’t done much in his limited plate appearances — he’s 1 for 10 through four games — but if the season began today all indications are he’d be the second baseman.”

There’s another wrinkle in Cerullo’s projection: Masataka Yoshida is listed on the 15-day injured list. After offseason shoulder surgery, Yoshida might not be ready to play the field by Opening Day, but he went 2-3 with a double and three RBI in his spring debut on Sunday.

Therefore, if Yoshida is able to DH, but not play the field, it likely starts a chain reaction where Devers is back at the hot corner and Bregman shifts to second base, eliminating opportunities for Grissom, Campbell, and Hamilton to start in one fell swoop.

The bottom line for Grissom: If he wants to win a job, the time is now to start hitting like crazy. In MLB, much like at any other level of competitive baseball, if you hit, you don’t sit.