The Los Angeles Angels recalled Vaughn Grissom From Triple-A Salt Lake, with Jeimer Candelario being released.
The Los Angeles Angels had a new second baseman yesterday, as Vaughn Grissom made his first start for the team after returning from the IL due to a sprained his wrist in spring training. In a corresponding move, third baseman Jeimer Candelario was designated for assignment, with the moves reported by Mike Petraglia of MLB.com and other outlets.
This is a prove-it move for Grissom, a former top prospect who hasn’t been able to get his footing in the big leagues so far. The Angels acquired him during the offseason in a trade with the Boston Red Sox for minor league infielder Isaiah Jackson, and before that Grissom was part of the Chris Sale trade as the Red Sox sent the star lefty to the Atlanta Braves.
Grissom received a cortisone shot in mid-March, according to Petraglia, and he was called up from Triple-A Salt Lake after being placed on the injured list to start the season. Grissom hit .343 at for Salt Lake as he went 12-for-35 with at least one hit in every one of the nine rehab games he’s played, so he’s clearly ready.
“I was able to go play with no wrist tape, and just able to go out there and be myself, really,” Grissom said before making his return.
The utility infielder has shown this kind of potential at Triple before, however. So far in his career he’s been a classic “Four-A” player who can’t quite translate his Triple-A numbers to MLB, but Angels manager Kurt Suzuki is hoping for better results this time around.
“We feel like he's shown enough and was playing well down there,” Suzuki said of Grissom’s nine-game Triple-A stint.
It’s unclear right now what this move means to Oswald Peraza, who started strong at second to open the season. Peraza has been considered a good field, no hit infielder so far in his career, but he had some moments offensively before falling into a 2-for-20 slump recently. Third baseman Yoan Moncada could also be in jeopardy given his poor offensive performance to date.
Grissom is out of minor league options, so this could be his last chance to show out and claim a regular job or step into the role of a utility infielder. The Braves and Red Sox both gave him time to do this, but the 24-year old Grissom is no longer a rising prospect, and Suzuki thinks he’s ready.
“He had a good spring training, and he's ready to go,” Suzuki said. “And we felt like he was ready to go, come help us defensively. The versatility, covering us at pretty much every infield spot -- being able to have that coverage is nice and gives us some flexibility within the lineup and defensive [positioning].”