Story set for shoulder surgery, gone for season
Shortstop Trevor Story suffered a fracture of the glenoid rim in his left shoulder when he made a diving play in Anaheim on Friday, and will require season-ending surgery to repair it.
The surgery is set for Friday in Los Angeles, and will be performed by the famed Dr. Neal El Attrache.
The 31-year-old contemplated the end of his season — his third straight injury-marred one since signing a sixyear, $144 million deal with the Red Sox in March of 2022 — in a tearful session with the media after Tuesday’s Red Sox home opener at Fenway.
“A lot of emotions. Frustrated. Don’t really understand it. I know that it’s a time for me to lean into my faith,” said Story. “At the moment it doesn’t seem right at all, but I will continue to have that faith and that’s what is going to get me through. The moment is tough and it’s hard to make sense of it.”
From 2017-21, Story had been one of the most durable middle infielders in baseball, averaging just under 150 games a season. That reliability is part of his baseball identity, making his succession of injuries — a broken wrist and heel contusion in 2022, elbow surgery in 2023 that sidelined him for more than four months, and now the shoulder fracture — emotionally trying.
“It’s something I hung my hat on in my career is being able to play, to post. That hasn’t been the case the last couple of years,” said Story. “I just love this game, man. I put my heart and soul into it. I just feel bad.”
While chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said the recovery prognosis is “excellent,” the timetable for it is six months. Given that the Sox had seen him as both a defensive anchor and middle-of-the-order contributor, his absence cast a cloud over the team’s home opener.
“Very significant,” Breslow said of the loss of Story. “Not going to hide from what he’s meant to this team defensively, and had full confidence that offensively he was going to contribute as well.”
In Story’s absence, the Sox plan to employ platoons at both short and second. David Hamilton and Romy Gonzalez will get time at shortstop, and Pablo Reyes and Enmanuel Valdez are expected to take the lion’s share of playing time at second base.
Vaughn Grissom, acquired in the offseason for Chris Sale, will start a minor league rehab assignment this weekend. The Sox see him primarily as a second baseman, but both Breslow and manager Alex Cora said he’d see some time at shortstop while building towards a return.
“I think it’s important for us to continue the development path we believed was best for him and best for the organization, and that is very likely with him landing at second base,” said Breslow. “He will certainly get reps through the rehab process at shortstop and we’ll make the determination, but I still think we have a ton of confidence for him to land an everyday second base job.”
Similarly, while Ceddanne Rafaela is viewed as capable of playing middle infield spots, Breslow suggested it would be hard to move such a dazzling centerfielder to the infield.
“We’ve got to move on,” said Cora. “I know it sounds hard, but this is the nature of the game.”
While the Sox must figure out how to proceed in Story’s absence, on Tuesday afternoon, their concerns were chiefly for the well-being of a teammate — and particularly for Story, who had been gutted by his inability to stay on the field.
Story’s delight in being healthy throughout the offseason and spring had been palpable – just as his dejection in the wake of Friday’s injury was felt throughout the team. That said, Story cited teammate Liam Hendriks — who missed the start of the 2023 season while recovering from non-Hodgkins lymphoma, pitched five games, and then suffered an elbow ligament tear that required Tommy John surgery — as a source of perspective.
“Missing time is never easy. I don’t want people to feel sorry for me . . . I’m dealing with something a lot less than what [Hendriks] went through,” said Story. “I’ll find the strength to [come back] again.”