Story’s MRI results indicate no damage

L OS AN G E L ES» Rockies shortstop Trevor Story’s results from his MRI taken Tuesday morning on his injured right elbow indicated some inflammation and soreness in his elbow, but the joint remains intact and his ulnar collateral ligament appears fine.

“We got pretty good results just moments ago. It looks as though there’s some inflammation, a little bit of soreness around the joint, but structurally the joint is intact and the (UCL) seems to be fine,” Rockies manager Bud Black said before Tuesday game at Dodger Stadium. “It was a huge relief.”

Black said Garrett Hampson, Pat Valaika and Ian Desmond are options at shortstop in Story’s absence. Hampson is starting Tuesday as Story’s impending return is expected in “a few days”, Black said.

“The team has to step up when he’s gone, and certain guys have to step up,” Hampson said. “I’m lucky to be that guy tonight. I’m ready for whatever my role is (at shortstop), and whoever it is out there going forward, the team is ready to keep it going.”

Earlier in the day, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Story potentially had ligament damage. But Black refuted that notion, saying that there’s no cause for major concern following some rest for the shortstop, who felt better Tuesday after being pulled during the middle of his atbat in Monday’s 82 loss to the Dodgers.

“I felt a lot better (this morning),” Story said. “So that’s obviously good, because last night I was pretty sore.”

Story said he has had tightness in his elbow at various times in his career, as he did in the first inning Monday night after the completion of a diving play and throw, but the pain got worse as the game went along. That pain was inflamed by Story’s swingandmiss on a changeup in his fourthinning atbat, after which he was pulled.

The allstar said it had been a rollercoaster 24 hours for him.

“With such a big series here and the emotions high already, and having to leave the game when I really don’t like leaving games — it’s tough for me,” he said.

If Story did have ligament damage, it could have meant he needed Tommy John surgery on his elbow, which brought the possibility of keeping Story out for the rest of this season and all of 2019. But that nightmare scenario for the Rockies didn’t appear to be the case in what is a huge break for uberfocused Colorado, which sat half a game behind Los Angeles in the NL West entering Tuesday.

“The key for us is to keep playing baseball and keep trying to win games, keep preparing how we’ve been preparing,” Charlie Blackmon said. “It’s hard to replace someone like Trevor — hopefully he’s only out for a day or two, but you just never know (how long).”

And the Dodgers realize that despite probably losing Story for the rest of the series, Colorado is equipped to overcome the adversity brought by his temporary void.

“We know how good they are,” Los Angeles infielder Chris Taylor said. “With or without Story, they’re not going to quit.”