Vaughn Grissom made his long-awaited Red Sox debut on Friday night in Boston’s 5-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
Batting seventh, the 23-year-old went 0-for-3 at the plate with two flyouts and a groundout to second, but Red Sox manager Alex Cora was impressed with the youngster’s debut defensively.
“He did a good job,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “He made some plays. We have to get that position down.”
Cora compared the Red Sox newcomer to former Boston star Xander Bogaerts in regards to his personality on the field.
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“He wanders like Xander,” Cora explained. “He wants to be the leader. He talks to the first baseman, the pitcher and the shortstop, and the look is he was out of position. But for his first game, it was good. It was good to see him. He’s a good player.”
Grissom, who missed all of Boston’s spring training because of groin and hamstring injuries, will have an off day on Saturday and return to the Red Sox lineup in the series finale with the Twins on Sunday, according to Cora.
Before his debut, Grissom told reporters it had “been a long road” to prepare for his debut, and he was really excited to finally join the team.
The second baseman was acquired in a trade from the Atlanta Braves in the offseason for Chris Sale.
Grissom played 64 games for the Braves, with 62 hits, five home runs and 49 strikeouts, while slashing .287/.339/.407 over two seasons.
