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A groin strain may cost Vaughn Grissom his first Red Sox Opening Day.
“We’ve got to shut him down,” Alex Cora told reporters on Saturday morning. “It’s going to take more than a few days. Obviously, no timetable. But with this now, Opening Day, it might not happen for him.”
Grissom was already on a slower training program due to a combination of focus on defensive fundamentals and a hamstring issue, but he’d been slated to play his first spring training game this weekend.
“He’s in a good spot,” said Cora last week. “I think from my end, the most important thing is getting him up to par defensively… He’s playing catch and all that, but we’re trying to get his hands, his footwork and hands, where they’re supposed to be.”
It’s a blow for the Sox, who see Grissom as a legitimate starting second baseman, and for the 23-year-old infielder, who finally had a chance to earn a starting role after being blocked at the positions during his two partial seasons with the Atlanta Braves. (He was acquired from the in the Chris Sale trade at the end of December.)
Instead, the Sox will turn to Enmanuel Valdez, who debuted last season and played 47 of his 49 big-league games at second base. Pablo Reyes, one of their unexpectedly clutch additions to the bench in ’23, will also see more time He’s played 40 games at the position over his five years in the Majors, but 30 of them were with Boston last season.
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