Article: Boston Red Sox Minor League Hitter of the Month - July 2025

[Nick John]

July was an interesting month for the Red Sox minor league players, as many prospects broke out. However, there was one who really stood above the others to the point where there were questions around him not being recalled to Boston when Marcelo Mayer went on the injured list in late July.

For his phenomenal month of July, which may have been his best since joining the Red Sox organization, Vaughn Grissom is TalkSox’s Minor League Hitter of the Month. Known for being the player the Red Sox got in return for the Chris Sale trade during the 2024 offseason, many have felt he’s underwhelmed. However, July was anything but underwhelming for the infielder.

Playing in 18 games in the month almost made it a hard choice of selecting him as other players appeared in more games such as Kristian Campbell and the recently-traded Blaze Jordan. Outfielders Justin Gonzales and Yophery Rodriguez were also in consideration. However, the numbers put up by Grissom made the choice easier. In those 18 games, Grissom hit .324/.351/.606 with five doubles, five home runs and 17 RBIs. He also walked four times and struck out in eight plate appearances.

Of Red Sox minor leaguers who appeared in at least 14 games, only Rodriguez, Gonzales and catcher Ronald Rosario had higher batting averages than Grissom. And when you look at Grissom’s OPS of .957, that mark was only beaten by Rosario’s 1.048 in 14 games. Grissom led the farm system in home runs and RBIs as well.

While Grissom is no longer a prospect, having exceeded his rookie status in 2022, he is still a young, versatile player. At 24 year old, there may be a team out there interested in the infielder, especially as the Red Sox have gotten him used to playing every position in the infield. Unfortunately for Grissom, the team views him as a solid high-minors depth option who would be an emergency call-up, something that wasn’t the case when they traded for him. Should he continue to play well in Triple-A, there’s a chance some team may call in the offseason looking to trade for him and take a chance developing him into a big league contributor.

Grissom’s path to Boston is currently blocked, like many prospects in the system. Originally viewed as the starting second baseman of the future, he’s been leapfrogged on the depth chart by Campbell, David Hamilton, Marcelo Mayer and even Nick Sogard, leaving him without a clear path to Fenway. Nevertheless, Grissom is improving in Worcester as shown by this season’s 8.2% walk rate. He's also cut back from a 19.2% strikeout rate in 2024 to a 17% rate this season.

It is weird that the team wouldn’t look to give him a chance considering his metrics are at their best this season. His exit velocity and hard-hit rate are at career highs, and along with the fact that he’s pulling the ball nearly 40% of the time, someone should be curious to see how Grissom might take advantage of the Green Monster.

Overall, Grissom is a player who isn’t letting a frustrating situation get the better of him. Instead, he continues to put the effort in each and every time he steps out on the field, and should the Red Sox not see a need for him, hopefully another team does. The least the Red Sox could do is recoup some value for a player whose trajectory with the team has changed so much in just under two seasons.

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