Next up on our prospect series for the Atlanta Braves is Vaugh Grissom. The shortstop is starting to shoot up prospect rankings after a great 2021.
As many are aware, the Atlanta Braves could be in the market for a new starting shortstop after the 2022 season when Dansby Swanson is set to become a free agent.
One internal option — although probably not ready by 2023 — could be Vaughn Grissom.
I mentioned in my scouting report article of Braden Shewmake that he’s possibly fallen behind in terms of the top infield prospect for the Atlanta Braves.
And it’s Grissom that is overtaking him and has many wondering if he’s the future shortstop in Atlanta.
The Braves drafted him in the 11th round of the 2019 MLB Draft and paid him $347,500 to back out of his commitment to FIU.
At the age of 18 in the Gulf Coast Rookie League, he slashed .288/.361/.400/.761 with 3 home runs in 44 games.
The Braves started him at Single-A Augusta in 2021 and he dominated by slashing .311/.402/.446/.848 with 5 home runs in 75 games.
He got a late call-up to High-A Rome and continued hitting there with a slash line of .378/.519/.595/1.114 with 2 home runs in 12 games.
Overall in 2021, he slashed .319/.418/.464/.882 with 7 home runs in 87 games.
Much like Michael Harris last offseason, Grissom is gaining a lot of hype this offseason and is the Braves’ prospect shooting up the rankings.
Prospects 1500 just released their updated top 50 prospects for the Braves and had Grissom ranked second only behind Harris.
Vaughn Grissom — Swing and Approach
The approach for Grissom is pretty simple — see ball, hit ball. He’s not someone who’s going to strike out a lot with great hand-eye coordination and a K% of 14 percent in 2021.
However, he does have a great eye with a BB% of 11.8 percent, which would have been tops among qualified shortstops at the big league level.
In his limited time at Rome, he walked 11 times and struck out just 5 times.
As far as the stance goes, he’s slightly open and starts with all his weight on that back leg with a slight crouch.
He doesn’t have much of a leg kick and he keeps his hands high and very still with a burst of quickness to the baseball.
https://twitter.com/TheRomeBraves/status/1433944098906513408?s=20
Even though he gets under the ball in the video above and is able to drive it out, in most of the games I watched it seemed like he was constantly getting on top of the baseball.
That seems to be the case throughout as he had a groundball% (GB%) of nearly 50 percent at Augusta.
Vaughn Grissom — Defense
Again, hard to judge just by watching a handful of games, but I saw him make some rangy plays up the middle making me think he can stick at short.
Many scouts judge his arm as above-average and I’d agree with that assessment in the few throws I saw him make.
Vaughn Grissom — Comparisons
This probably isn’t fair, but whenever I look at Grissom I can’t help but see Andrelton Simmons.
Certainly not the defensive wizard part, but more just their physical appearance in the batter’s box along with their quick hands and ability to get the bat on the baseball.
They’re also very similar in size.
Vaughn Grissom — Projections and Timetable
The tools for Grissom are pretty average across the board; although, you could argue his hit-tool is currently showing to be above-average.
He turned 21 on January 5 and is listed at just 180 pounds with a 6-foot-3 frame, so it’s possible there is still some physical growth for him that could change his outlook.
But as things stand right now, I project him to slash .270/.330/.420 with 15-20 home runs while playing solid defense at shortstop.
That’s certainly good enough to make him a big-league regular, but I’m not ready to consider him a future All-Star.
I think he’ll start 2022 back at High-A Rome, but if he continues to dominate there, I don’t think the Braves wait long to give him a shot at Double-A.
The earliest we could see him in the big leagues would be 2023, but it’s probably 2024 before he’s ready to become an everyday contributor if that’s what he turns out to be.