Story’s time: Red Sox shortstop primed for big year
Trevor Story’s first two seasons in Boston haven’t gone according to plan, but while his performance has fallen short of expectations, it’s hard to imagine anyone thriving amid the chaos and upheaval he’s endured.
Fortunately, this year Story has gotten to experience a luxury he hasn’t enjoyed in a long time: a full, healthy spring training.
“It feels good, it feels like my first normal spring, normal offseason. Being healthy goes a long way and I think that’s helped me be way more settled in and comfortable,” Story told the Herald recently in Fort Myers. “I’ve been able to take this spring as it comes and not trying to force something in a short amount of time, so that’s what I’m really enjoying now.”
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, MLB lockout and other circumstances beyond his control, this year has marked Story’s first normal spring training in five years. When Story originally signed with Boston in March 2022 he didn’t arrive until less than two weeks before Opening Day, a chaotic stretch during which Story and his wife also welcomed their first child.
Story wound up only getting nine spring at-bats before making his regular season debut, and unsurprisingly it took him a while to get his feet under him. Eventually he did heat up and the Red Sox started winning, but then his season was derailed when he was hit by a pitch and broke his wrist. Then came offseason elbow surgery, and while Story was eventually able to get back on the field last August, he couldn’t get into any kind of rhythm.
Story acknowledged how difficult his tenure in
Boston has been at times.
“It can be overwhelming, it feels like a whirlwind the last few years,” Story said. “As baseball players we’re very in tune with the routine and the timing of all the things that happen, so it’s been great man, just way more settled in and it’s nice to have a spring where I’m not running around like a chicken with my head cut off.”
Even amid his struggles Story has shown what kind of a difference-maker he can be. The 31-year-old has been a Gold Glove-caliber defender at both shortstop and second base, and last summer he single-handedly solved Boston’s disastrous middle infield situation. During the 57-game stretch in 2022 when Story was healthy and productive, the Red Sox went 3621 and improved from nine games under .500 to six games over. They started 10-19 before and finished 31-44 afterwards.
This offseason he’s made a concerted effort to take on a greater leadership role, organizing a defensive boot camp for his fellow infielders, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora praised Story for the way he’s taken the team under his wing.
“He did an amazing job in the offseason gathering the group together. Zoom calls, conference calls, text messaging and working out together,” Cora said. “He wants to make it to the playoffs, he wants to play in October, he wants to have an impact in October, but for that to happen other little things have to happen, and he’s been doing an outstanding job.”
The thing that’s been missing for Story is consistency, and now back to full health there’s reason to believe he can get back to being the All-star performer he was earlier in his career with Colorado.
In his final season with the Rockies in 2021 — which was also his last full, healthy season in general — Story hit .251 with 24 home runs, 20 stolen bases and an .801 OPS. Prior to that, he topped 35 home runs, 20 steals and a .900 OPS in back-to-back All-star seasons in 201819 and was on a similar pace during the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.
If Story can post similar numbers for Boston it would transform the lineup, giving the Red Sox a big, right-handed bat in the middle of the order they desperately need while offsetting the production lost by Justin Turner and Adam Duvall’s departure in free agency.
Time will tell if Story is still capable of being that guy, but the fact that he’s enjoyed a normal ramp-up to the season is something that cannot be overlooked. Between his impact at the plate, in the field and on the basepaths, Story is arguably Boston’s most important all-around player, and not having him available has been among the biggest factors in the club’s descent into mediocrity these past two years.
We still haven’t seen Story at his best, and if the Red Sox are going to surprise people and climb back into the playoff conversation, Story will likely be front and center leading the charge.