CINCINNATI -- Vaughn Grissom is finally ready to start anew with the Angels.
The utility infielder returned from a sprained left wrist Saturday and started at second base, his first Major League action since September 2024 with the Red Sox. In a corresponding roster move, Jeimer Candelario was designated for assignment by the Angels.
The 11th-round Draft pick of the Braves in 2019 spent all of last season with Boston’s Triple-A affiliate in Worcester, where he compiled impressive numbers. He slashed .270/.342/.441, with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs in 96 games with the WooSox.
Grissom needed a full season like that after a rough 2024 with the Red Sox when he struggled to a .190/.246/.219 slash line with no homers in 31 games. He showed promise in his first two big league seasons, batting .287 with five homers in 64 games from 2022-23 with the Braves before he was traded to Boston for lefty ace Chris Sale on Dec. 30, 2023.
Grissom was traded to the Angels on Dec. 9, 2025, for Minor League outfielder Isaiah Jackson. He was competing for a roster spot in Spring Training when he tweaked his left wrist on a swing in a game on March 11.
He received a cortisone shot in mid-March and then began the season on the injured list. His first action came with Triple-A Salt Lake, where he excelled over nine rehab games, batting .343 (12-for-35) with at least one hit in every game.
“I was able to go play with no wrist tape, and just able to go out there and be myself, really,” Grissom said before Saturday’s return to the Majors.
The Angels and skipper Kurt Suzuki are hoping to tap into his power potential and use him as a versatile piece who can play all over the infield.
“We feel like he's shown enough and was playing well down there,” Suzuki said of Grissom’s nine-game Triple-A stint.
Despite batting just .185 with one homer and two RBIs in 11 Spring Training games, Grissom was showing encouraging signs before the wrist injury on March 11.
“He had a good Spring Training, and he's ready to go,” Suzuki said. “And we felt like he was ready to go, come help us defensively. The versatility, covering us at pretty much every infield spot -- being able to have that coverage is nice and gives us some flexibility within the lineup and defensive [positioning].”
Grissom is just very eager for a fresh start.
“It's a nice fresh start,” Grissom said. “Happy to go out there and try to help the new, new club win.”