KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This much is obvious: When the Braves optioned Vaughn Grissom to Triple A, it gave him extra motivation.
How could it not?
This added fuel is not unhealthy or toxic, especially because Grissom refocused and had a hot start to the season for Triple-A Gwinnett.
“Obviously, you want to prove everyone wrong. That’s like part of every athlete’s dream is to prove everyone wrong,” Grissom said in the visiting clubhouse at Kauffman Stadium on Friday. “But it was just like, take care of the business, and that’s as far as I can go with it. (Third base coach Ron Washington) and all these guys, they have good insight, so they keep my head on straight. So it’s good.”
The Braves recalled Grissom to replace Orlando Arcia, whom they placed on the 10-day injured list Friday after discovering a microfracture in his left wrist Thursday.
The Braves have not released a timetable for Arcia, who doesn’t need surgery. As of now, we don’t know how long Atlanta will be without him.
“I’m not even going to venture to guess,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Everybody responds differently to all the injuries, whether it’s the an oblique a hamstring, a broken bone thing or whatever. Everybody’s different. They’ll just treat him up. It’ll be probably 10 days before they even look at it again and see where he’s at.”
On a Monday evening in spring training, the Braves optioned Grissom and Braden Shewmake to Triple-A. Grissom had played well in spring, but the Braves felt more comfortable with Arcia as their starting shortstop.
The question became: When would we see Grissom with the big club?
He’s back.
“It feels good,” Grissom said. “Obviously it (stinks) what happened to (Orlando), because he’s been playing his (butt) off. He really has been. He’s been doing his job. But time calls, and whatever happens, happens. You just gotta show up. That’s all you can do.”
In his first major-league game this season, Grissom went 1-for-4 with a run-scoring double as the Braves beat the Royals 10-3 Friday. He had an adventurous night defensively.
In the first inning, he double-pumped one throw, perhaps because Matt Olson was not already at the bag. (In fairness to Olson, he ran over as quickly as he could.) In that same inning, as the Braves tried to turn two, Grissom’s throw sailed past Charlie Morton at first base. The official scorer later charged Morton with the error, as the ball whizzed right past him.
In the third inning, Grissom made an error on a ball hit right at him. But later in the inning, he made a sliding stop and threw to first for the final out.
Asked what Grissom should take away from this game, Snitker said: “Just knowing he’s going to play (Saturday). That’s the biggest thing. He’s going to be back in there (Saturday), and just go play his game.”
Arcia, who was playing really well, took a 98-mph fastball to the wrist. X-rays were negative, but a CT scan and an MRI revealed the microfracture, which will need time to heal.
“Originally we thought maybe it was just going to be a precaution, just peace of mind for him, and then they found the little microfracture,” Snitker said. “I hate it. I hate it for him. He’s playing so well, doing such a great job for us.”
This is what created an opening for Grissom, who now gets to show the Braves why he’s the man for the job.
In 41 at-bats at Triple-A Gwinnett before joining the Braves, Grissom hit .366 with a 1.043 OPS. He had two doubles, two triples, a home run and four RBIs.
And strikeouts? Only four of them. He’s walked six times.
But enough about the bat. The Braves want to see how Grissom plays defense. His defensive ability is where they had questions. With Arcia out, Grissom can prove he can do the job at a high level if he makes all of the routine plays, and some of the difficult ones.
Asked if the details he worked on with Washington over the offseason have become muscle memory, Grissom said: “A lot of it comes just with repetition. Early in the spring, it’s kind of weird because you haven’t seen a ball off the bat in months. Just getting out there and just seeing the ball off the bat, eventually it just tunes into the right channel. You just start moving just off instinct and stuff like that. Maybe at first I might have been thinking about it. We did a lot of work this offseason and you want to be ready, but the truth is you didn’t see a ball off the bat, you saw it off Wash’s fungo (bat) when he told you a backhand was coming.”
Could Grissom usurp Arcia if his performance is phenomenal while Arcia is injured? Perhaps. It’s tough to project, though, because Arcia had played so well. He did nothing to give the Braves any pause about their decision to make him the starting shortstop.
Before fracturing his wrist, Arcia was 15-for-45 with two doubles, two homers and seven RBIs to start the season. This was really good production from a bottom-of-the-order hitter. He also played tremendous defense.
For now, the important point is this: Arcia’s injury, unfortunate as it may be, gives Grissom an opportunity to shine. This is his chance, and it comes sooner than expected.
At the Gwinnett Stripers’ media day, Grissom said he “wasn’t really surprised” at the outcome of the starting shortstop competition in spring training. But he went through camp believing he would be the starting shortstop (just to give himself the optimal mindset).
He did everything he could in camp. Knowing that helped relax him as he started the season at Gwinnett.
“Yeah, it was a little bit more calming,” Grissom said. “But I still knew that there was some marinating to be done still. It felt good knowing that I did a decent enough job, but you can’t just be decent. You got to really play your (butt) off to stick on teams like this. Just knowing that helped out a lot.”
And now, Grissom gets to show everyone, including the Braves, why he deserves the job.
Injury updates
Snitker was asked if he could run reporters through updates for his injured players.
“Do we have enough time?” he joked.
Max Fried (left hamstring strain): Asked if it’s realistic to think Fried could return Monday or Tuesday in San Diego, Snitker seemed to think it could happen. Fried has been getting off the mound, covering first base and doing the other parts of fielding his position. The good news is he’s kept his arm going. “He came out of all his stuff really good,” Snitker said.
Michael Harris II (lower back strain): Harris, who is eligible to return April 17 in San Diego, is on the road trip. Snitker said Harris won’t increase baseball activities until the back is pain-free. “It’s just when he’s not feeling anything in his rehab and all, then they’ll get him ramped up,” he said. Reports on Harris are good, Snitker said.
Travis d’Arnaud (concussion): It appears d’Arnaud is not on the trip, or at least this leg of it. D’Arnaud looked good, the manager said. “It just takes time with something like that,” he added. D’Arnaud is eligible to return Sunday, but it’s safe to assume he won’t be activated in the coming days.
Collin McHugh (right shoulder inflammation): McHugh is on the road trip. He might throw a bullpen session on Saturday. “He feels great,” Snitker said. McHugh can be activated on April 21.
Raisel Iglesias (right shoulder inflammation): Iglesias can return whenever he’s ready, but he must hit all the steps in his throwing program. He feels good, though. “You just can’t rush those things with him,” Snitker said. “He’s going to have to go through the (steps) of sides, lives, innings.”
