Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas excited to share right side of infield with Vaughn Grissom

BOSTON — Triston Casas is making a point to get to know some of the new faces within the Red Sox organization.

Vaughn Grissom, especially.

After being one of the first players to reach out to Grissom following his trade to the Red Sox in December, Casas recently spent time with the newly acquired infielder at Trevor Story’s offseason camp in Texas before the Sox first baseman traveled to Boston this week to join Grissom and 11 other top Sox prospects who are participating in the Red Sox Rookie Development Program.

Casas is hoping to build a rapport with Grissom, who many predict will be the starting second baseman for the Red Sox this season.

“I just met him for the first time in Texas last week, but it feels like I’ve known him for a really long time, feels like I’ve known him for years now,” Casas said. “He’s someone I’ve admired from afar, just seeing pictures and videos of his swing or highlights of him on social media, just connecting with him through those outlets so finally getting to meet him and connect with him and get to know him on a little more personal level has been really cool.

“We’ve made a good transition into building a friendship pretty quickly, and hopefully it’s something we can carry on for all of our playing years and hopefully for the rest of our lives. But we’re off on the right track to getting that right side of the infield connected.”

The Red Sox employed 12 players at second base last season. Casas, meanwhile, logged 125 games at first base while batting .263 with 24 home runs, 65 RBIs and 66 runs.

The 24-year-old is hoping to see a little more stability on his side of the infield this year.

“It’s been a revolving door, to say the least, if you just look at how many players have tried to play second base over the last couple of years (and) hopefully he can end that streak like I’m trying to do for first (base),” Casas said. “His personality is built for this kind of environment.”

The Red Sox acquired Grissom from the Atlanta Braves on Dec. 30 in exchange for left-handed pitcher Chris Sale and cash considerations.

Grissom played in 64 games with the Braves over the past two years, batting .287 with five home runs and a .746 OPS while making 41 starts at second base and 19 at shortstop. The right-handed hitter made his major league debut at Fenway Park on Aug. 10, 2022, hitting a two-run homer over the Green Monster in his third plate appearance.

In 102 games with Triple-A Gwinnett in 2023, Grissom batted .330 with eight home runs and 13 stolen bases. He entered the 2022 season ranked as one of the Braves’ top prospects by MLB.com (No. 7) and by Baseball America (No. 12).

Now, Grissom finds himself with a new organization making new relationships.

“For the time I’ve been around, it’s been nothing but love, and so it’s good, I’ve enjoy the time here, the clubhouse, the old-school feel, so just going with the flow, and that’s it,” Grissom said. “I’m just trying to be the best player I can be for the rest of the team and just trying to learn my role and just play that role and give ourselves the best shot to win the (AL) East.”

Grissom joins the likes of Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, Kyle Teel and other top Sox prospects in Boston this week as part of the club’s Rookie Development Program. Grissom worked out with Casas — who accompanied the Sox up-and-comers in a workout at Boston College before spending Wednesday afternoon inside the Red Sox clubhouse with the prospects as they met the media.

For Grissom, getting to hang out with the player he’ll throw the ball to most has been a good experience so far. And vice versa.

“I think our personalities match pretty well. He’s from Miami, so he’s got a little combative slash funny personality that I like to egg on, and he’s just cool,” said Grissom, who is from Florida. “We just play with each other.”

“We’re going to spend hopefully a lot of time with each other over the next couple of years,” Casas said, “and I’m really excited.”

—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @tommycassell44. 

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Red Sox slugger Triston Casas develops relationship with Vaughn Grissom