• In 2015, Trent graduated from Richland High School in North Richland Hills, Texas, with a commitment to Texas Tech.

• Grisham was born Trenton Clark. He legally changed his last name to Grisham, his mother's last name, in 2017.

  "The name has always been a big deal to me," Grisham said. "My mom raised me and has been there for me through everything. She was there for every game, taking me to every tournament when I was younger. She even drove my truck across the country so I could avoid having to pay to have it shipped. She's the greatest person on Earth, and I wanted to honor her for all that she's done for me."

• Trenton has a very good baseball instincts and a feel for the game. He has leadership ability and a knack for performing on big stages.

• Trent put together one of the most impressive performances in the history of Team USA Baseball. Over 12 games with the 18U team, he showed off all five tools, hitting .538/.655/.923 with four doubles, three home runs, 24 RBI and was a perfect 10-for-10 in stolen bases.

  He played stellar defense in center field and drew 13 walks to just 3 strikeouts, showing an advanced feel for the strike zone and a patient approach.

• In 2015, Trent was the Brewers first round pick, out of high school. He received a $2.7 million bonus. He signed with scout K.J. Hendricks.

  "He is a five-tool player, and we are excited to get that kind of player,” said scouting director Ray Montgomery, who is running his first draft for the Brewers after replacing the late Bruce Seid. “He has proven to be a team leader and one of the better bats in the draft.”

  Trent said he had no idea Milwaukee was that interested in him until a couple of minutes before his selection.

  As a senior at Richland High, the 18-year-old lefthanded batter hit .552 with three homers, 24 RBIs and 11 stolen bases.

• In 2016, Baseball America rated Grisham as the third-best prospect in the Brewers organization. He was at #6 before 2017 spring training. Then, Grisham was #15 in the spring of 2018 and fell to #27 in the spring of 2019.

• August 1, 2019:  Trent was golfing when he got the news. He had grinded through several disappointing seasons before a swing change produced a breakout year.  Trent was shocked to learn that he was being called up to the Major Leagues.  He immediately contacted his mother, Michelle Grisham.

  “She started screaming,” Grisham said, only a few minutes after arriving at the Oakland Coliseum and seeing his name in the starting lineup for the Brewers’ series finale against the A’s, which the club lost, 5-3. “Then we started looking for flights right away.”

  Mom was in the stands for her son’s unexpected Major League debut, which was prompted by a sensational showing at Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A San Antonio, capped by a career night July 30, 2019, in which Grisham hit for the cycle with two home runs.

  His OPS this season at the two stops was 1.010 with 26 home runs and 54 extra-base hits. The year before at Biloxi, Grisham had a .693 OPS with seven home runs and 19 extra-base hits in about 10 percent fewer at-bats. His surge pushed Grisham back up to sixth on MLB Pipeline’s list of Milwaukee’s top prospects.

  The change? Grisham work in concert with the Brewers’ player development staff, a group that among others, included hitting coordinator Kenny Graham and three of Milwaukee’s Minor League hitting coaches—Al LeBoeuf, Danny Santin and Dave Joppie—to change his point of contact. Blessed with a keen batting eye, Grisham had long watched the baseball get as close as possible to the plate before beginning his swing. Now, he was making contact more out in front . . . and doing damage.

  “With that, I started playing better and better and I just got more and more confidence,” Grisham said. “And now that’s really what I’m relying on—confidence in myself and just going out there and playing.”  

  Grisham hadn’t had a chance to let it sink in yet. He did not arrive at the ballpark until a little more than two hours before the first pitch and scrambled through all of the first-day duties before starting in center field for the Brewers. With no batting practice before a day game, Grisham’s first swing on a Major League field was in the top of the second inning, when he lifted an 0-2 pitch from A’s starter Homer Bailey for a flyout to center field. Two innings later, Grisham hit a sacrifice fly to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead. He finished 0-for-3 but collected his first big league RBI.

  “Day 1 in the big leagues, you’ve just got to get through it,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said.

  Grisham’s family was there to go through it with him. His mother, his brother, a nephew and Grisham's fiancée, Megan, were in the stands. (McCalvy - mlb.com)

• 2019 season: In a make-or-break year, Trent put it all together for a true break-out season. Major adjustments to Grisham’s swing and contact point enabled him to break out offensively, and the 22-year-old produced a .300/.407/.603 line with 26 homers (54 XBH) between the Double-A and Triple-A levels en route to his big league debut on Aug. 1.

•  Oct 1, 2019: Minutes after his eighth-inning error punctuated the rally that allowed the NL Wild Card game to slip away from the Brewers, Trent sat in what was suddenly the busiest corner of Milwaukee’s clubhouse at Nationals Park. The rookie outfielder was flanked by teammates and team employees, who streamed over in waves of two and three, offering support in several forms.

  The hugs, the pats on the back, the words of encouragement, they were all delivered in hushed tones. But the message was consistent, both to Grisham and with what his manager was relaying publicly just down the hall.

  “Trent is why we’re here,” Craig Counsell said, after the Brewers' season ended in a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the Nationals. “Trent got us here; he was a big part of getting us here.”

  That Grisham ended up at the center of why Milwaukee is going home, he said, “is going to sting for a long time.”

  Grisham charged Juan Soto’s bases-loaded single with intentions to cut the tying run down at home. By the time the ball skipped by him, that run had scored, with the go-ahead run behind it. 

  “It’s going to sting,” Grisham said. “It was essentially gifting the Nationals a Division Series. It’s going to hurt, and I expect it to hurt when I debrief and go into the offseason.” (J Trezza - MLB.com - Oct 2, 2019) (Editor's note: One month later, the Brewers traded Grisham to the Padres.)

• 2020 Season: Grisham played in all but one game this season, finishing with 54 hits, 26 RBIs, and 10 home runs. He also slashed .251/.352/.456 with an OPS of .808 and stole 10 bases. In his first year with the Padres, Grisham also won his first Gold Glove.

• 2021 Season: Grisham ended the season with 2.1 fWAR, and a 103 wRC+, to go with a .327 OBP and .413 SLG. 

  A 10/10 finish in the short 2020 season generated a lot of buzz around Grisham during the 2021 draft season. In his age-24 season, with the first chance of seeing a full season’s worth of production on a young and surging offense, many had high hopes for Grisham and his power/speed combo.

  Unfortunately, they never quite materialized. His power dropped. Despite logging over twice as many plate appearances as 2020, his home run total only reached 15. Similarly, his stolen base count rose only slightly to 13, and those drafting Grisham for his 20/20 potential were disappointed. His final run/RBI total didn’t impress, and his slash line dropped in all categories.

  However, it’s important to remember that Grisham is young. He was able to slightly chip away at his strikeout rate, and with a full season now under his belt, he could be primed to improve in several categories, particularly since the Padres lineup should continue to thrive. I think replicating his 15/10 production is a pretty safe bet, with the potential for more of a 20/15 finish—even with a lukewarm batting average, that’s not bad value for a mid-to-late-round outfielder.  (Dylan Burris - Feb. 17, 2022)

• April 21-24, 2025: Trent was on the paternity list.

         TRANSACTIONS

• June 2015: The Brewers chose Grisham in the first round, out of Richland High School in Richland Hills, TX.

• Nov. 27, 2019: The Brewers traded OF Grisham and RHP Zach Davies to the Padres; acquiring IF Luis Urias, lefthanded starter Eric Lauer, and a player to be named later or cash.

• Jan 13, 2023: Trent avoided arbitration, agreeing to a one-year deal with the Padres worth $3.1 million.

• Dec 6, 2023: Soto was dealt to the Yankees in a seven-player deal.

  The Padres get: RHP Michael King, RHP Jhony Brito, C Kyle Higashioka, RHP Drew Thorpe (Yankees' No. 5 prospect), and RHP Randy Vásquez (Yankees' No. 13 prospect).

  The Yankees get: OF Juan Soto and OF Trent Grisham.

• Jan 11, 2024: Trent and the Yankees avoided arbitration agreeing to a one-year deal.

• Nov 22, 2024: New York agreed to terms on a new one-year contract with outfielder Trent Grisham. Grisham will earn $5 million with up to $250,000 in incentives.

• Nov 18, 2025: Trent informed the Yankees he would accept a qualifying offer, a one-year contract valued at $22 million.

• Grisham is a sparkplug leadoff hitter with a good batting eye. And he has good lefthanded power (55) to his pull-side.

  The Padres had eyes on Grisham going back to 2019 spring training, when he was beginning to get comfortable with reverting back to his old swing.

  Grisham had rested his thumbs against the handle of the bat, like a golf grip, when Milwaukee drafted him 15th overall in 2015. He had been convinced to use a more traditional grip in pro ball but opted to try things his way after hitting .242 through his first four pro seasons.

  The old habit clicked.

  The 13 homers that Grisham hit in 63 games at Double-A Biloxi were a career high. He hit his way to Triple-A San Antonio and then to Milwaukee. All told, he hit .300/.407/.603 with 26 homers in 97 minor league games.

  "Grisham has earned the right to go compete for a Major League spot,” Padres GM A.J. Preller said before 2020 spring training. "He’s a good player. He’s competitive. He sees the baseball well and has added that power component. He can impact us in a lot of ways.” (Jeff Sanders - Baseball America - Feb. 2020)

• Trenton has feel for the barrel. He is willing to accept a base on balls. He strikes out a whole lot, but walks very frequently, displaying a solid understanding of the strike zone. It is true that he can be too patient at times.

  And in 2017 Grisham struggled to make contact, striking out on some nasty looking swings through some easy pitches to hit. He was constantly tinkering with his batting stance. He too often pulls off the ball. He was seeking a comfort zone—perhaps because he switched from a golf-style grip to a more conventional grip at the plate. But he brought back the golf grip in 2019.

  The turning point for Grisham came while playing for Biloxi back in 2018. A former minor league teammate, Jordan Yamamoto, pitching for the Marlins' Jacksonville affiliate, threw Grisham a fastball down the middle and he swung through it to strike out.

  Thoroughly frustrated, Grisham made the decision to return to the batting grip he used when drafted 15th overall in 2015 out of high school in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

  "It just made me so mad and fed up with what I was doing,” Grisham said.

  Grisham scrapped the conventional batting grip he had been convinced to use after turning pro and went back to the grip in which he rested his thumbs on the bat instead of wrapping them around the handle, similar to how one grips a golf club.

  When he returned to action in 2019, he was a different hitter.

  "I was done doing things the way everybody wanted me to,” said Grisham, a lefthanded hitter who also eschews batting gloves. "I just wanted to go back to what felt comfortable for me.”

  Returning to Biloxi, Grisham flashed power he hadn’t previously shown while continuing to display strong plate judgment. His incredible strike-zone knowledge resulted in 67 walks and 72 strikeouts.

  "Driving the ball has never been a problem for me,” Grisham said. "But I never really focused on hitting home runs. They just happen when you put a good swing on the ball.”

  Beyond returning to his unconventional grip, Grisham made another adjustment that helped his power blossom. He made a conscious effort to contact the ball farther in front of home plate, being more aggressive in pulling the ball when pitch location allowed it. (Tom Haudricourt - BA - Oct. 2019)

• Grisham has a quick, short, compact, direct bat path to the ball, lefthanded swing. He has a nice approach with an open stance with his hands at ear-hole level.

  Trenton's swing is not classic, nor is it nice-looking. That is because of an unorthodox golf-style batting grip in which he positions his thumbs along the bat, but it’s short and direct, and he shows a feel for barreling the ball. His short lefthanded swing produces consistent hard contact. He keeps his bat in the zone a long time and should develop average power with more experience. 

• July 31, 2019: Grisham hit home runs in his first two at-bats followed by a single, a double and a triple to hit for San Antonio’s first cycle in eight years.

• Sept 9, 2019: Grisham matched a Brewers' franchise rookie record with a career-high five hits and fell a homer shy of the cycle.

• 2019 Season: An adjustment to Grisham's point of contact allowed him to breakout in earnest in 2019. He erupted to produce a .300/.407/.603 line with 27 homers in 97 games between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A San Antonio before making his big league debut on Aug. 1.

  The 23-year-old went on to play in 51 games for the Brewers over the final two-plus months of the regular season, finishing with a .738 OPS, 14 extra-base hits and 24 runs scored.

• 2019 Season: An improved contact point fueled Grisham’s turnaround, as he went from a hitter who let the ball travel too deep in the zone and therefore struggled to turn on the ball, to one who consistently achieved an ideal, more out-in-front point of contact and hit for power from line to line.

  Using our Prospect Stats tool, we can see that Grisham’s batted-ball profile was markedly better in 2019. Specifically, after generating either a fly ball or line drive on 46.1 percent of his balls in play from 2015-18, the 23-year-old’s FB+LD rate jumped up to 56.5 percent in the upper Minors, and then held steady at 55.9 percent in his first taste of the big leagues.

  While Grisham’s success reinforces the notion that player development does not occur linearly, it also speaks to how a player, regardless of age, can be an adjustment away from putting it all together. (M Rosenbaum - MLB.com - Nov 30, 2019)

• 2024 Improvements: He is happy to be a member of the Bronx Bombers.

  “The way these guys treat players as an organization is second to none. I always heard about that around baseball,” Grisham said. "Being able to experience it for the first time, it has been really good. I like the group of guys we have here. It’s a great group. Of course, the history of the Yankees is special to anybody.”

  Last December, Grisham was part of the mega trade that sent outfielder Juan Soto from San Diego to New York for right-hander Michael King, catcher Kyle Higashioka and three Minor League pitchers.

  It’s a fresh start for Grisham. The past two seasons were miserable for him in the batter’s box, as he hit a combined .191 in 920 at-bats. One thing can be said about Grisham: He is honest when talking about his struggles with the bat.

  Grisham acknowledged that when he couldn't get hits, he sulked for long periods. It didn’t help that he heard a lot of noise from the coaching and analytical sides.

  But after the trade to the Big Apple, Grisham did some soul searching regarding his swing. He decided to be himself and go back to the swing that allowed him to make his Major League debut with the Brewers in 2019 as a 22-year-old.

  “I had to redefine what makes me Trent Grisham more than anything,” said Grisham, now 27. “I had to change my mindset, really. I’ve been down on myself the last two years when I struggled. … I just wasn’t in a great mindset. That’s what I really had to change going into this year – knowing what makes me and going from there.” (Bill Ladson - March 5, 2024)

• 2024 Season: Statistics: 76 games, 209 plate appearances, .190/.290/.385, 9 HR, 31 RBI, 91 wRC+, 10.5 BB%, 27.3 K%, 0 Defensive Runs Saved, 2 Outs Above Average, 0.5 fWAR

  2025 ZiPS DC projections: 40 games, 175 plate appearances, .212/.312/.401, 6 HR, 21 RBI, 104 wRC+, 11.6 BB%, 26.2 K%, 0.9 fWAR

  Grisham came over last offseason along with Soto from the Padres. He was never going to play a major role, barring injury, but given his resume as a stand-out defender with a competent bat, there was a good chance he could make an impact.

  In 2024, he ended up appearing in only 76 ballgames, amassing just over 200 plate appearances. He hit below the Mendoza line but was still a valuable presence out in center when he got the chance, and wasn’t a complete hole in the lineup, running into a fair share of homers in his part-time role. It’s not anything to write home about, but enough to have some play as a fourth outfielder.

  Outside of his brief experience as a Yankee, Grisham has actually shown himself to be a good all-around player. Between 2020 and ‘21, Grisham maintained a 110 wRC+ across 191 games, racking up 25 home runs and 4.9 fWAR in that stretch. It was a promising run for a player only entering his mid-20s, but to this point it stands as a high-water mark.

  Beyond this brief offensive peak, Grisham has also long been a top-notch defender out on the grass. He took home Gold Glove awards in 2020 and 2022 and has regularly ranked among the very best defenders in the game by Outs Above Average, ranking in the 90th percentile or better in each year from 2020-2023. This skill alone gives Grisham a fairly high floor as a player, as he can always have value has a premier glove in a vital position.

  As things stand, the Yankees will be running out an outfield of Jasson Domínguez, Cody Bellinger, and Aaron Judge from left to right. Hopefully, that will be a formidable group headlined by a couple of former MVP winners, but Grisham projects as the only other primary outfielder on the roster and fits well for the job at hand. If Giancarlo Stanton’s elbow issue bleeds into the regular season, that could open even more doors for Grisham, but that obviously remains to be seen. Regardless, the Yankees will take a plus defender with some pop as their backup option in the outfield.

   With the bat, the last three seasons have clearly not been as kind to Grisham (87 wRC+ combined), but there is reason to believe in an acceptable floor, if not a reasonable bounce-back. ZiPS sees the latter, projecting a solid 104 wRC+ in a limited role, which feels optimistic but not unreasonable. Either way, his solid power and very solid eye at the plate do a good job at buoying his offensive production. (Sam Chapman - Feb 17, 2025 - SBNation)

• 2025 Season (3.2 fWAR): Grisham put together a career year in his second season with the Yankees. He produced an .811 OPS over 143 games while setting career highs in home runs (34) and RBIs (74).

  Too bad Grisham went just 4-for-29 (.138) with 10 strikeouts at the plate in October. (John Sparaco - Oct. 12, 2025 - SI)

• Trent has nearly average arm strength (a 45), his throws are accurate, and he gets good carry on the ball.

  He has the tools to play all three outfield positions.

  But Grisham is excellent in center field. He has a feel for the position. He gets good jumps to go with his excellent speed.

• Trent continues to play all three outfield positions, with his average speed and below-average arm fitting best in left-field. (Spring 2019)

• Trent displays strong leadership skills on and off the field.

  "Some of the things you hear in the game when he’s in the outfield talking to other outfielders is unique for a young kid like that,” Omaha manager Darryl Kennedy said in 2015.

  GOLD GLOVER

• In 2020 with the Padres, Grisham won the NL Gold Glove as the league's top defender in center field. 

• In 2022 with the Padres, Grisham won the NL Gold Glove for center field.

  Grisham recorded 17 Outs Above Average in the regular season, which was tied with the D-backs’ Daulton Varsho for the MLB lead. It’s Grisham’s second career Gold Glove. 

• Trenton is a plus runner out of the box, currently a 60 with 70 possibly on the horizon. 

• Grisham makes things happen on the bases and steals bases with ease. He is an intelligent runner who gets a good jump on the bases.

• 2015: Trent battled blisters and ankle problems but still managed to impress as a high school senior.

• May 22-June 4, 2016: Trent was on the DL with a strained hamstring.

  July 2016: Trent spent much of the month on the DL with the hammy strain.

  "I injured my right hamstring in May and missed about a month," Grisham said. "About a week after returning, I hurt the left one. Even so, I would say being hurt didn't affect my development. If anything, it helped me. I was able to learn a lot about what is needed to take care of my body. You need to balance performance with trying to stay healthy while playing every single day."

• April 18-May 16, 2018: Grisham was on the DL.

• April 1-9, 2021: Trent was on the IL with left hammy strain.

• May 24-June 12, 2021: Trent was on the IL with left foot contusion. 

• June 13-July 3, 2026: Trent was on the IL with right hammy strain.

  June 16, 2026:  The Yankees expect to be without Grisham “for a few weeks” due to a “moderate” strain of his right hamstring, manager Aaron Boone said. Grisham sustained the injury running the bases in the June 12 loss to the Blue Jays.

  “He’s continuing with baseball activities,” Boone said. “[He was] out doing some things in Toronto. Those things will continue as tolerated, but it’ll be a little bit of time.”