Story starts to settle in
Double play shows comfort level is rising
Trevor Story didn’t have much time to react.
As Xander Bogaerts slid to snag a grounder up the middle, Story raced to second base, a potential double play in the works. Bogaerts didn’t have time to transfer the ball to his hand. Instead, he gloved it to Story at second.
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
Story reacted accordingly. He barehanded the ball, and in one fluid motion fired a bullet to Bobby Dalbec at first for the impressive twin killing.
“That was fun,” Story said. “Just kind of happened. It was in the flow of the game, so it was fun.”
That play in the Red Sox’ 4-0 win over the Twins on Saturday represented the growing comfort Story is playing with as he continues his transition with a new team and new position after a delayed start to the season.
Story has had, to put it lightly, a hectic and uneven three weeks since joining the Red Sox, which included leaving spring training to be home for the birth of his first child and missing three games earlier this week with food poisoning. But in between all of that, he’s making every effort to make up for lost time.
He’s been putting in the work with Bogaerts defensively, practice angles and communication with each other. It’s shown. Story has looked like a natural at second base, evidenced by the double play in Saturday’s win. And at the plate, he’s certainly getting there. On Saturday, he hit a missile to the gap in right-center for a long single, 103.1 mph off the bat for his hardest-hit ball this season.
Story’s timing at the plate isn’t all there just yet. He had a late start to spring training and there’s still work to be done. But the two-time Silver Slugger knows he’s making significant progress.
“Like I’ve said, it’s a process, for sure. It’s been a crazy few weeks, but I feel good and I know I’m progressing
each day, and that’s what I want. I know what it feels like when I’m there and I know it’s really close.”
Eventually, Story will be making good use of the Green Monster in left, painting wall-ball doubles or launching homers to Lansdowne Street. His career spray chart suggests it will come sooner than later. But right now, he’s satisfied with the progress he’s making.
“Right now I don’t need to do that,” Story said. “What I did, the line drive to right was a really good sign for me. If I’m doing that, I know I’m really close. The big thing in left will kind of take care of itself. I don’t need to try to hit it. Those just kind of happen.”
Taylor to begin rehab
Josh Taylor is finally on his way back.
The Red Sox left-hander – who was sidelined with a back injury for most of spring training and the start of regular season – will likely begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on Sunday.
Taylor threw a live bullpen session on Friday and as long as he bounced back well, he would head to Worcester. Red Sox manager Alex Cora estimated that Taylor would need about five or six rehab outings before being activated from the injured list.
“We’ll see,” Cora said. “Let’s have the first one first and then we’ll decide what we do.”
Looking ahead, Taylor’s return timetable aligns close to May 2, when MLB teams need to cut down their expanded 28-man rosters to the traditional 26, and when they’ll only be allowed to carry 13 pitchers. Taylor’s eventual return means the Red Sox would likely have to cut three relievers from their roster.
Cora provided more encouraging news about a Red Sox pitcher on the shelf, as James Paxton, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, threw about a 20-pitch bullpen on Friday. The Red Sox are expecting a midseason return for the veteran starter, who they picked up in free agency.
Cora said that Paxton and Chris Sale, who’s out until June with a stress fracture in his right rib cage, will stay with the Red Sox through their road trip next weekend to Tampa before the two drive down to Fort Myers to continue their rehab work.
“Everybody’s very excited to see where he’s at in his progression,” Cora said of Paxton.
Devers knows
When Jackie Bradley Jr. beat the shift with a bunt down the left-field line in Friday’s home opener, nobody was more excited in the Red Sox dugout than
Rafael Devers, Cora said.
Devers, who has been pushing for more bunting practice since spring training, gestured to Cora by pointing to his head to reinforce how smart the play was.
“Yesterday, (Bradley) gets it down, we’re all excited,” Cora said. “I turn around and Raffy’s like (gestures to head). He went like that. I was like, yeah. That’s another step. Him understanding who he is, who Jackie is and everybody, we can take advantage of that. Will (Venable) put it perfectly. People think you’re giving away outs. Yeah, it looks bad when he tries and he’s out, but if you bunt out of 10 times, you get five down so you’re safe five times. That’s five knocks. And they like hits. … It was awesome. It was a good baseball play.”
Here comes the pizza!
Saturday marked the 15th anniversary of the famous segment of the Red Sox’ Marathon Monday game in 2008, when the NESN broadcast caught a fan throwing a piece of pizza at someone who was trying to catch a foul ball. That prompted the hilarious breakdown on NESN with Jerry Remy and Don Orsillo.
For Cora, it was a reminder of what made Remy so special as a broadcaster, which was on display during a video tribute before Friday’s home opener.
“I think the cool thing about yesterday remembering Jerry, it wasn’t wow we miss him and feeling bad about it,” Cora said. “It was the other way around. It was kind of like, this is cool. I think he brought a smile to everybody in the stadium. It was kind of like this is the man we want to remember, this is the way we want to remember him. This morning I saw the pizza one and his famous quote, ‘here comes the pizza’ or whatever. So it’s one of those if you are from Boston and you know Marathon Monday you know the pizza game happened.”