Alex Cora undecided on what Vaughn Grissom’s role will be with Red Sox when he returns from rehab assignment

“The most important thing here, for the player, is to separate what’s going on here and what we need to do with him.”

When the Red Sox traded Chris Sale to the Atlanta Braves for Vaughn Grissom straight up back in December, they likely anticipated him being their starting second baseman in 2024.

A nagging left hamstring strain prevented that from being a possibility before the season even started. During his recovery from that injury, the 23-year-old caught an illness that caused him to lose 14 pounds, which kept him sidelined until May 3.

Grissom played in 23 games once he was able to suit up. However, a right hamstring strain he suffered while running out a ground ball has kept him out since June 1.

In those 23 games Grissom did play earlier this year, he didn’t perform well in many of them. He logged 19 strikeouts compared to 12 hits over that span, with only one knock going for extra bases. Grissom didn’t notch a multi-hit game while healthy and drew five walks.

For a player who the Red Sox anticipated filling a hole at second base that hasn’t been filled with a permanent player dating back to Dustin Pedroia, Grissom’s first season in Boston certainly hasn’t panned out yet.

The young infielder began his second rehab assignment this year with the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox Saturday with hopes of returning to the big league club and making an impact. Manager Alex Cora talked about Grissom’s bumpy first year in Boston and how the team has to take his latest rehab assignment slowly.

“We have to wait and see,” Cora said regarding whether or not Grissom is guaranteed to get the starting second baseman job upon return (h/t MassLive’s Sean McAdam). “The most important thing here, for the player, is to separate what’s going on here and what we need to do with him. His offseason wasn’t great. We found out that he got hurt playing winter ball. And then, January wasn’t great as far as rehabbing and spring training, he gets hurt. So we haven’t seen the best of Vaughn Grissom.

“How can we accomplish that? We have to take all the steps and get him stronger, get the athlete we envisioned. If we get that, then we’re going to get the player and then the player shows up and we make a decision.”

Grissom played in nine rehab games with Worcester leading up to his debut in May. It sounds like the Red Sox want him to play in several more contests this time around and allow him to start his season over again.