Team staying patient as Story looks for rhythm

The Red Sox knew it would be like this for Trevor Story.

They recognized, after not playing for close to a year, Story’s timing would be off. The atbats, at times, hard to watch.

Though it’s late in the season for the Red Sox, it’s early for Story, who made his season debut Tuesday following offseason elbow surgery. In his first two contests, Story has registered backto-back 0-for-4 performances, striking out three times in each.

“He’s out in front [on offspeed stuff ] and late on fastballs,” manager Alex Cora said before Thursday’s 2-0 victory over the Royals. “So that’s part of it. It’s not that easy, man. It’s the big leagues and they’re going to go to places where they feel you’re not there yet.”

He was 1 for 3 with a double and a walk Thursday as the DH.

“He was better,” Cora said. “He was able to catch up with the fastball after seeing all the sliders and put a good swing on it. Then the walk was good. So just keep grinding, keep going.”

Last year, when Story was rehabbing a broken wrist, he ditched a leg kick for a toe tap. He felt that would get him to be more balanced, more grounded in his swing. It worked.

Story hit .340/.389/.500 with an .889 OPS and a homer across 13 games. But balance is futile when the timing isn’t there.

In his eighth inning at-bat against he Royals’ Jordan Lyles Wednesday, for example, Story was up in the count, 2 and 1, and took a middle-middle heater for a strike. Story’s initial toe tap was in tune with Lyles. But the second tap that triggered the swing was late. By the time Story got his foot down to hit, the ball was by him.

“He saw a lot of spin early yesterday,” said Cora. “Then he made the adjustment to stay back and he got fastballs. It’s the game within the game. The more pitches he sees the better he’s going to be.”

Story’s game is dictated by feeling, movement, and being an athlete — not necessarily science. More reps translates to better feel and rhythm at the dish, and thus better results.

The plan is for him to play shortstop Friday and Sunday against the Tigers.

No matter the results, Story is a significant upgrade — especially defensively.

“He’s one of the best athletes in the big leagues,” said Cora. “We know defensively, he’s going to be a plus for us. Offensively, hopefully we can get him going right away so he can impact the game, not only at the plate, but running the bases. It’s a great addition for us. We just have to be patient, you know, and understand that this is a process. At one point, he’s going to get it and he’s going to start hitting the ball in the air. It should be fun.”

Sale to be reinstated

Chris Sale (shoulder) will be reinstated from the injured list for Friday’s series opener against Detroit. The Red Sox expect Sale to go roughly four innings, roughly around 50 pitches.

“Just to have him back, that’s huge for us,” said Cora. “And then we’ll keep progressing from there but to have him tomorrow that’s going to be very important for us.”

Just how important?

“Less Medallas [for me],” said Cora, referring to a Puerto Rican beer, “and more water.”

Whitlock close

Garrett Whitlock (elbow) will likely be reinstated from the injured list Sunday. Tanner Houck (facial fracture), who was scheduled to go three innings for Worcester Thursday before the game was postponed by rain, isn’t too far behind Whitlock.

But the Sox want to make sure Houck fine tunes his mechanics.

“With him, obviously mechanics come into play,” said Cora. “The arm was unrelated [to his injury].

“The strike throwing, let’s see how he feels about it. Then we’ll decide what we do. He might need one he might not.”