Ron Washington, the Braves third-base coach and venerable infield guru, is back home in New Orleans, keeping up with baseball news and hoping the team re-signs shortstop Dansby Swanson. But he’s also doing something else — intensive one-on-one work with Vaughn Grissom, prepping the youngster to take over for Swanson if needed.
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“I don’t think Dansby is replaceable unless they go get a superstar,” Washington said Tuesday. “But we can handle the position. We’ve got (Orlando) Arcia, and we’ve got Grissom — that kid is getting better and better every day. He’s here in New Orleans right now, and I’m telling you, he’s improving big-time.”
If it wasn’t apparent there’s a very real possibility Swanson will leave as a free agent, it should be now. The Braves sent Grissom from his home in Orlando, Florida, to New Orleans on Sunday to work with “Wash,” the first of three planned one-week sessions designed for one thing: to get the 21-year-old ready to play shortstop on a regular basis in the majors.
Grissom is staying in a downtown hotel and working out for about three hours each day with Washington at New Orleans Youth Academy, which is operated by MLB. Washington recently told Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos that he could get Grissom ready to play shortstop by spring training.
“That’s why they’re giving me time with him right now — to get him right,” Washington said. “Get him thinking right, getting him to understand the nuances of being a shortstop, the things you have to do, the way you have to go about your business. You know, he’s a young kid. A young kid that’s just used to going out there, putting the gloves on and playing. There’s a lot more to playing defense than just putting the glove on and going out there, and if the ball comes to you, you catch it.
“So I’m taking this opportunity to instill as much as I possibly can in him, so that when we hit spring training, if it so happens that we don’t sign Dansby back, we have some options. We also have Arcia. So we’ve got some options. But this kid (Grissom) has got some upside. And we’ve got to have him ready for whatever may go down.”
Washington added: “I hope we don’t lose Dansby. But that’s a decision Alex and Snit (manager Brian Snitker) have to sit down and talk about and make a decision on. But we want to make sure that we have all our options available if it don’t go the way we would like it to go.”
Grissom played primarily shortstop in the minor leagues but was called up by Atlanta in early August and thrust into the starting second base job after injuries to star Ozzie Albies and Albies’ replacement, versatile veteran Arcia. Despite having only 22 games played above Single A, and only 58 starts at second base in parts of three minor-league seasons, Grissom excelled right away offensively in the majors and played steady second base defense, at least initially.
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But after hitting a home run in his Aug. 10 debut at Boston’s Fenway Park and carrying a stunning .420 (21-for-50) average with three doubles, three homers, 10 RBIs and a .660 slugging percentage through his first 14 games, Grissom hit .220 with a .319 slugging percentage and .613 OPS in his remaining 27 games, including 25 starts. After having only one multi-strikeout game in his first 14, he had eight two-strikeout games and one three-strikeout game in his final 27.
And after playing error-free in his first 18 games, Grissom made four errors and a couple of other mistakes in his remaining 22 games at second base. Snitker opted to move Arcia back in the lineup for the last nine games of the season and three of four starts in the NLDS loss to the Phillies.
Grissom still finished with an impressive .291 average, .792 OPS and 121 OPS+ in 41 games and 156 plate appearances.
“It’s like anything else, you have to know how to make adjustments,” Washington said. “And he’s learning that. Like I said, the kid played two years of (Single) A ball and finds himself in the big leagues, you know? So there’s a lot that he has to learn, and I’m glad that Alex has given us this opportunity to get him acclimated.
“It’s gonna be a big advantage for him spending three weeks with me down here in New Orleans. It’s not three weeks in a row, it’s a week every month. So in December we’re going to spend a week, and in January we’re going to spend a week, and then it’s time for spring training.”
Swanson praised Grissom extensively for his performance in his first weeks with the Braves and the energy he brought to the team. The veteran quickly took to the charismatic youngster, while also noting Grissom could occasionally lose focus, something not uncommon among young players. Washington agreed with the assessment.
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“That’s the problem — he can lose his focus,” Washington said. “But I can say this: It’s better. Compared to the day he arrived in Boston, to the day when we finish work, he’s headed in the right direction. And he’s understanding focus. He’s understanding how you have to be on every pitch. He’s understanding the things that it takes to be a major-league shortstop. And that’s what I needed to get with him to make sure that he understands when spring training opens up.
“Whether he gets a shot at our shortstop job or whether we sign Dansby back, as I said, we talked — Snit and Alex and us, we talked — and we just want to be prepared if things don’t go the way we want it to go.”
Grissom is a rangy 6-foot-3, and some scouts have predicted since he was drafted out of an Orlando-area high school in 2019 that he would eventually outgrow shortstop and switch positions. When Grissom was thriving in his first weeks in the majors, back when most people still thought the Braves were more likely than not to re-sign Swanson, there was plenty of speculation Grissom could move to left field as soon as 2022.
But with Swanson unsigned and the price for any of the top free-agent shortstops projected to range generally between $25 million (what some believe will be the Swanson neighborhood) to $35 million or more in average annual value over long-term contracts, the Braves might be looking at Plan B.
Arcia, 28, was a shortstop for a division-winning team in Milwaukee but has a slight .243 average and .664 OPS in nearly 2,200 plate appearances over parts of seven MLB seasons, with almost three times as many strikeouts (445) as walks (151).
Washington was asked about Arcia having experience at shortstop and knowing the ins and outs of the position.
“Yeah, he does,” Washington said. “But this kid, Grissom, has got some upside. And we just want to try to get him ready and a viable piece if we have to. If we end up signing Dansby back, which I hope we do, this kid can go on back to Triple A and play shortstop and be ready.”
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And so, the Braves are having their master infield instructor get him ready.
“We’re just going through the process of what it takes to play,” Washington said. “All the different things that you have to do. Your thought processes, the consistency of work ethic, everything. Everything. But I do believe, as I told Alex, when we get to spring training, he’ll be a piece that we can look at. He’ll be ready to go.”
The typical workday, as described by Washington: “We go about three hours. We have a session in the morning. And then we have a little period of time where we sit down and we discuss things — how you do this, how you do that. Then we go back to work; we might be working on some double plays, feeds, different ways that you can use that bag. Work on balls going in the hole, where you’ve got to continue through a baseball instead of trying to stop and get back to first base. Slow rollers.
“I mean, we’re covering everything. He’s doing a tremendous job. He’s gonna be ready to go by the time we get to spring training in February.”
Washington was asked if Grissom has the skills to play high-level shortstop — the range, quickness and arm strength, the whole package.
“Yes, he does. He’s just got to learn how to play it,” Washington said. “And that’s what I’m doing right now, teaching him how to play it. A lot of guys go out there and play defense, but they don’t know how. So I’m taking this opportunity to teach him how.”
Washington is known for the set of one-on-one drills he does with infielders, many involving the coach’s adroitness with a fungo bat. That bat’s getting heavy usage this week with Grissom on the other end of hundreds of daily grounders and one-hoppers.
“Wearing it out,” Washington said, laughing. “And I tell you what, we’ve been working for three days, and in three days, of all the ground balls he’s taken, there’s only five balls that hit the ground (after Grissom gloved them). He’s picking it up.”
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It’s been unseasonably cool in New Orleans all week, with temps in the 40s and 50s, about 30-35 degrees below what Grissom left in Orlando.
“But you know what, it’s mind over matter,” Washington said. “And he’s been showing up and he’s just been getting it done. I’ve been very pleased with his attitude and the way he’s been going about his business. We’re turning him into a professional.”
(Photo: Brett Davis / USA Today)