Vaughn

Grissom

Grissom’s home run was a 385-foot shot at 103.8 mph for his first of the season. The 25-year-old is 13-for-38 so far this season with five RBI and a 3/6 K/BB ratio. He has played some second base, first base, and third base as the Angels look to get his bat in the lineup a little more while he’s swinging it well.

It seems like a routine day off for Schanuel, who is hitting .271/.323/.390 in his last 15 games with one home run and 11 RBI. Vaughn Grissom will get the start at first base and bat seventh.

Grissom had the Angels’ only two extra-base hits of the night, with both doubles coming off Royals starter Noah Cameron. Grissom’s double in the seventh inning would kick-start the best offensive inning for the Angels on the night, and he eventually came around to score three batters later thanks to an RBI single by Zach Neto. These doubles were the first extra-base hits of the season for Grissom, who isn’t known for his power. There’s nothing to get too excited about here.

Schanuel will take a breather with southpaw Ryan Weathers on the bump for the Angels. It’ll be Vaughn Grissom handling the colder corner and hitting fifth in Schanuel’s absence. Josh Lowe also gets the evening off with Bryce Teodosio getting the nod in left and hitting ninth.

It would be an understatement to call Grissom’s last few seasons a colossal disappointment after he was the crown jewel of a trade that sent Chris Sale to Atlanta where he immediately won a Cy Young Award. Meanwhile, Grissom is already on his second organization after playing just 31 games in Boston over the last two years. The 25-year-old figures to split time with Adam Frazier and Oswald Peraza at second base, which extinguishes any sort of fantasy upside he might have in an everyday role. He’s at second base and batting sixth on Saturday against the Reds in his Los Angeles debut. He can be ignored in all fantasy leagues at this point.

Grissom will open the season on the shelf after suffering a wrist injury late in camp. His departure means it’ll be Adam Frazier and Oswald Peraza splitting time at second base to open the season.

The move paves a relatively unobstructed path for veteran Adam Frazier to open the year as the Angels’ starting second baseman. Technically, Oswald Peraza, Nick Madrigal and Vaughn Grissom remain in the mix but they’ve struggled this spring and make more sense in bench roles. Los Angeles took Moore with the eighth-overall pick back in 2024, one spot before Pittsburgh grabbed baseball’s current top prospect Konnor Griffin. The 23-year-old second baseman has hit just .198/.284/.370 with seven homers in 53 games at the highest level and has struggled to emerge as an everyday option.

Grissom struck out in his lone at-bat prior to exiting the contest. The 25-year-old infielder has gotten off to a frigid start at the plate this spring, batting .185 over 11 Cactus League contests.

Grissom came over from the Red Sox in an offseason trade and hasn’t exactly torn the cover off the ball this spring in Angels camp. The 25-year-old second baseman’s lackluster defense limits his appeal in a bench spot and he simply hasn’t shown enough at the plate to justify carrying him over someone like Chris Taylor or Jeimer Candelario in a reserve role.

This deal was reported last week and is now official after Moncada passed a physical. The 30-year-old played in 84 games for the Angels last season, hitting .234/.336/.448 in 289 plate appearances. He will head into spring training as the favorite to start at third base, with Christian Moore battling Vaughn Grissom and Oswald Peraza for the second base job.