The Red Sox have been without Trevor Story all season. The middle infielder underwent internal brace surgery to repair the UCL in his throwing elbow in January. He’s been on the 60-day injured list since Spring Training.
Fortunately, it seems Story is progressing well in his rehab. The two-time All-Star met with the Boston beat today and reiterated he expects to be back in the second half (audio transcript via WEEI). He expressed confidence he could return to the MLB infield by August and suggested it’s possible he could be back as a designated hitter by next month.
Breaking back in at DH isn’t uncommon for hitters in this situation since swinging can put less stress on the elbow ligaments than throwing does. The Phillies, for instance, have used Bryce Harper as a DH since early May as he works back from last November’s Tommy John surgery. It’s possible Harper eventually gets back to playing defense — either at first base or in the corner outfield — but Philadelphia expedited his return by putting him in a bat-only role.
Story, of course, isn’t the same caliber of hitter as Harper. He’s a solid but not elite offensive player who’s coming off a .238/.303/.434 showing during his first season in Boston. That puts more pressure on him to provide the club some defensive value when he’s able, though the Sox would presumably be happy to welcome him back a few weeks earlier as a DH option.
The 30-year-old worked exclusively at second base last season. That was in deference to Xander Bogaerts, so the longtime Rockies shortstop is likely to move back to the left side of the infield once healthy. Story said today he’d been “expressive” about his desire to reclaim shortstop after Bogaerts signed with the Padres and that the organization is on board with him returning to his initial position.
Boston has given the majority of the shortstop reps to Enrique Hernández in Story’s absence. Hernández has struggled offensively for a second consecutive season, hitting .228/.296/.356 in 243 trips to the plate. Public metrics like Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average have also panned his defensive work, which isn’t too surprising given his lack of consistent experience at the position before this season. The Sox have given sporadic playing time to Yu Chang and Pablo Reyes too. Neither player is hitting well and Chang has been out since late April when he fractured the hamate bone in his left hand.
Second base hasn’t been any more settled. Enmanuel Valdéz tailed off dramatically after a hot start and was optioned a few days ago. Christian Arroyo is the starter for now but carries a .258/.289/.409 slash in 98 plate appearances. The organization’s hope that offseason trade acquisition Adalberto Mondesí could pick up the slack in Story’s absence appears to have been dashed. He’s still working back from an April 2022 ACL tear and seems without a clear return timetable.
All that makes Story’s health a pivotal question for the club. Adding to the group via trade could also be under consideration for the front office if the team can hang close enough to the playoff picture to make it worthwhile. After tonight’s extra-inning loss to Colorado, Boston dropped back below .500 at 33-34. There’s virtually no chance of winning the AL East at this point and they’re 4 1/2 games back of the Astros (with the Blue Jays and Angels also above them) for the final Wild Card spot.
The Red Sox have multiple DH types who are better hitters than Story. And this poorly managed, incompetently built slacker gang needs a half-competent SS to actually PLAY the field. Having Kike with 14 Es already is killing the team. He lost yet another game for them today with another E. Chang can field and will take it soon one hopes. Story can come back when he can field the position. This team is not going to the playoffs and will soon have new hitting coaches, development people, manager (Tek replaces the lazy cheat Cora), and a new GM.
I doubt the team makes wholesale changes anytime soon.
Oh, you can hope, or speculate, but I don’t see it happening. The one thing savings jobs right now is the team hovering near .500, as if its some indication that ‘the process is working.’
Nobody with baseball acumen should’ve thought Kiki could play a competent SS – it was all there in the advanced statistics for anyone who cared to look. But, some people bought into the snowjob, claimed chaim was too smart, too analytically minded, and, he knew better than us.
I’ve read speculation elsewhere that bloom’s deal runs through next year. I suspect if the team is around to over .500 he has at least a 50/50 shot of being back to finished it out and gets one final chance to win.
The Sox need offense to lengthen the lineup. Casas should be sent down to get more ABs without hurting the club. If the team has already decided Dalbec is to be moved, that leaves Turner going to first and Story DHing when he’s ready. The team could even make multiple trades and gut the MLB roster for next year if the right offers come. Strange how I was upset when DD was fired and now I want Bloom to last until the kids and trades he made can either pan or flame out. Most on this site want him gone.
Dewey I was also upset when DD was fired he has the reputation, I think unfair, of gutting farm systems and leaving nothing when he leaves. I just don’t think that’s fair I do think DD is willing to move prospects for established big leaguers but look back at his trade history and most of his trades are positive on his side of the ledger. In addition to this in Detroit he had an aging owner that wanted to win before he passed so he had further pressure to focus entirely on the big club. I’m guessing his tenure in Philadelphia will be completely different he will trade some blue chip prospects but likely they will be the right ones to add impact big league talent.
Dewey I’m losing patience with Bloom. The only reason why I’m not completely out on Bloom is I think he is doing a decent job with rebuilding the farm but his big league club building is poor. He has dismantled a championship quality big league club. He had an opportunity this off-season to build the big club he had, by far, more money to work with then any other off-season so far and did a middling job. He setup a team that is just awkward. If they had signed Xander or one of the other free agent shortstops this team is like 5 or so games better. Relying on Enrique to play short was a really bad decision especially since now they are counting on Story with his surgically repaired throwing arm to be the shortstop moving forward. Maybe this an ownership mandate and Bloom is just following marching orders but if that is the why on god’s green earth did Bloom allow the team to go over the lux tax last year. That alone should of been a fireable offense. I stated before this past offseason was going to huge one from Bloom and it was mostly disappointing. How much more runway does this guy get?
Pretty much fully agree on DD.
I disagree. DD’s reputation on gutting farm systems is earned. As I’ve said before and will say again, it’s takes little skill to use a blank check and trade off all your best prospects for established players.
Acell but look back at his trades rarely do you see a situation where he trades the wrong guy and rarely do his trades look bad in retrospect. Let’s see what happens with Philadelphia but imo he got much more in his trades then he gave up in Boston.
you can’t just judge the trades in retrospect. At the time he overpaid in a lot of the deals.
Bruin – Bello, Casas, Houck, Rafaela, Mata, Paulino, Walter, Gonzalez, Duran … hardly barren.
Losing patience? I realized he was in over his head with the Betts trade debacle. They need to fire Bloom already. Chop chop!
They won’t make Tek the manager until the front office is firmly in win now mode. No way they set him up to fail and the fans don’t want to see him as anything but a success.
If Story returns as a DH next month, it means they either gave up on 2023 and traded Turner, or they’ve finally came to their senses and optioned Casas (opening 1B for Turner)
Story coming back to DH in July either means Turner gets traded, Casas gets demoted, or someone from the OF (Verdugo/Duvall) gets dealt. Otherwise there is no fit here for a bat only. If that is the case then he may as well continue to rehab in the minors til he can play the field because Trevor Story is not the impact bat Bryce Harper is
If being the impact bat of Bryce Harper is your cutoff, very few players will get to DH before playing the field, no matter how much it might help the team. Why would you not want Story replacing Casas in the lineup?
Should have given this $ to Xander or Devers instead.
Easy to talk in hindsight. it was always the years with Bogie and no one expected another team to offer him the deal he got. Paying Devers earlier would have been smart but he got his deal at the bucks and years he got only because of fans’ pushback.
No hindsight here. I said all 3 contracts were over pays. But would rather have Xander or Devers extended sooner and cheaper than signing Story. If not I would have traded both.
The fans would have hung ownership by their “bawls” if they traded them after losing Mookie.
@deweybelongsinthehall What fans think doesn’t matter. Fans seemed to have wanted Xander traded at deadline. Already were booing owner at hockey game. Might as well traded Devers. I am sure they are happy now and not complaining what so ever since Devers got that awful contract that made them so happy they can forgive the rest of the off season.
Only smart move the Sox made was not giving that ridiculous contract to Xander. Xander (except for the first few weeks of the season) hasn’t done squat and is already one of MLB’s most overpaid players. And the Padres get him until he’s 40. Suckers.
Same could be said about Devers right now.
Both will be fine in the near term.
? Devers deal is complete. Basically 11 year $330,000,000 if you count this year.
YourDreamGM
Should have given this $ to Xander or Devers instead.
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They did give the money to Devers, so I am not sure what your point is.
IRT Bogaerts, so far, he’s been a poor signing for SD. He had a good week to start the season, and has a .668 OPS since then. I’m not sure if the wrist is something that will pass, or will linger forever, but this is a pretty bad start for someone that is 30.255 years old.
At this point, there is no chance I’d take Bogaerts $280M/11 over Story’s contract.
Joe, quit telling us what’s going on and let us live in our dream world. I’m sure the Padres thought signing Bogey was the start of a beautiful relationship.
Joe – the only thing you missed is that bloom bungled handling Bogey so badly, Bogey himself admitted he wouldve taken Trevor story money and years had it been offered prior to the insult extension offer.
So, the question isn’t would you have taken Bogey @ 11/280, it’s if you would’ve taken him at 5yrs and 120 or a little more in New money.
He never should’ve hit FA. And under a competent GM, wouldn’t have
@JoeBrady They didn’t give them extension before Story signing when it would have been much cheaper.
Bogaerts was great while he was in Boston, but I did not want Bogaerts at any price! His power was greatly diminished last year due to the wrist injury which has obviously continued to hurt his production, and at 30 I do not see his below average defense improving. IMO, Boston’s offer made it obvious they did not want him back either regardless of what was said publicly.
Marcelo Mayer recently was called up to AA, and he looks like he should arrive in Boston in late 2024 (Red Sox scouts opinion not mine). He is Boston’s top prospect, and he is a consensus top 50 prospect in the MLB. Bogaerts unwillingness to move off SS was his ticket out of Boston.
This is all premature. Story being the DH makes no sense unless Cora is willing to sit Kiki and that’s not going to happen. There will be some excuse why Kiki must play and Story will need to sit until he can play SS and they can put Kiki at 2B. If they can tolerate Devers misplaying 50 balls a year they can tolerate Kiki misplaying 35. Kiki is at a disadvantage since the score keepers aren’t filtering errors for him like they do Devers.
Nope, Story will play when he is fully healthy, and I will be surprised if that happens in 2023.
The only way Kiki plays is in center where his glove becomes an asset like with JBJ. Having Devers at third makes it so much more important to have a defense first option at short (and to a lesser degree at second). Arroyo sadly will likely go back on the IL well before Story comes back. To me, I’d play when healthy, Chang at short and Story at second. With those two in the middle, the pitching staff will be helped big time (a long with Kiki in center). Such though means either Duvall or AV gets dealt.
The roster construction of this team is just an absolute mess at this point. This season is pretty much lost already (at least for the division) so no point in making Turner/Yoshida play the field everyday to accommodate a decent hitter in Story. He should come back when he can play the field.
Also, whenever Chang comes back from IL he should be playing shortstop everyday. There is absolutely no reason for Keke to be in the starting lineup as an infielder anymore
KD – The Sox are desperate for offense, that’s the reason for Story DH’ing more than anything.
6 consecutive games without a multi-run inning, pathetic.
FPG – I agree but with the depth at DH and such bad fielders is it worth adding a guy who might take a month to get back into a groove so players like JT and others have to play out of position?
Story makes more sense as a 2B when he is ready or even SS if his arm is capable. Heck, There are many options that could improve the defense once everyone is back. A line-up with Devers at DH, Story at 3B, Mondesi/Chang at SS and JT at 2B would be a huge defensive upgrade and you could swap JT and Story if his arm can’t handle 3B. You remove Kiki from the equation as well as Devers’ defense.
WIN-WIN
That team might have fewere holes on offense too. Less .240 or below hitters. If Casas can continue to improve the team could be much better in August than right now. Add Sale and they might finish above .500!!
With or without him, Sox remain a .500 team
If hes targeting August for his return, that means hes out the whole season. Hes going to have a “setback”. Oh no, poor Trevor! 180 million for a dog who doesn’t want to play. They are going to say its “precautionary” for why hes not playing once August hits. Another Chris Davis/ Stratsburg. Sit out and get paid. Even when he was playing for the Sox he took it easy. Leaving Coors Field isn’t an excuse for hitting poorly. Just look at Arenado and Lemehiu, both have still killed it or even gotten better since leaving Coors. If Story was getting paid per game he’d be out there playing through any “inury”/soreness he has. This is baseball not ballet. Be a man and play or give back the money. Theres no sense of urgency in a lot of these guys that get paid. An exception would be Freddie Freeman. He goes out there every game, no excuses, and gives it his all. Thats after getting paid his 150 mil contract. Hes the prime example of how a player should act after getting his payday
I was just thinking about paid sick time off like I’m sure some or most of us have. Give players, say, 2-3 per year and let them accrue and roll over into a bank if not used.
LFGMets (Metsin7)
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Criticism from a NYM fan? Irony delights!
I don’t see Bloom going anywhere. The minor league system is really starting to blossom and the MLB is currently playing competitive baseball! It’s time to be a little more patient and let things run its course with the rebuild! I see the Red Sox plying around .500 for the rest of the season which is a big improvement over last year!
Thec – Subtract the Dombrowski prospects and Mayer who was the prize for a horrendous 2020 season, then tell me how the farm would be ranked.
Alex Speier did a great article detailing Bloom’s failures at building the farm.
As for the ML team, the slight improvement from last year can be summarized in two words: balanced schedule
FBG: since there is only one DD prospect in the top 10 I’d say subtracting him (even though that’s a horribly reductive argument) wouldn’t have as big of an impact as you think.
It’s fair to also ask how would every farm system be ranked if you took away the best prospect and a player from the previous regime. It’s just not a good argument to make a point about any farm system.
Acell- I think it all comes down to do you agree ops should get credit for drafting a top prospect because of a last place near-worst record?
Tampa keeps producing top prospects and they have been in the postseason for several years now.
The issue is how you made your point. It’s an ineffective way to make your argument. If you take out the top prospect for every team it’d affect their rankings plain and simple.
As to your second point Detroit has had plenty of top picks over the past five years including another top pick this year and is just barely showing signs of being competitive same with Pittsburgh, KC, etc.. There are plenty of teams that have drafted in the top 10 that don’t nail that pick. I’m sure if you asked any Tigers fan that follows the minors they’d rather have Mayer over Jobe.
FG did a terrific write-up of the RS farm. I actually thought that FG overrated it a bit, but the fact that they like it makes me more comfortable.
not sure how good that write up by FGs was that you keep referencing especially after the write up on Mayer.
Here’s the article:
blogs.fangraphs.com/boston-red-sox-top-46-prospect…
All in: I know the article and read it. Other quality scouting services (BA, MLB talent pipeline) don’t agree with their assessment on Mayer hitting wise and especially defensively. That alone called into question how the scouting was being done.
Acell: I see. Didn’t know that.
Suit – Yoshida is included? Seriously?
And am I blind, or is the players draft/sign date not shown?
Fever: Agreed. Yoshida was never in the farm system, so he shouldn’t be there.
Joe I think the write up but FG is pretty good. I think they are a borderline top 10 farm and Bloom deserves some credit for that.
It is going to take a few more years to really see how these prospects pan out but it appears to me he’s done a credible job deepening the farm system. If he gets to stick around it will be interesting to see how integrates the farm guys as they matriculate and who he trades for help because at some point he’s going to have to make som trades of guys who will be blocked. How he does in this endeavor, if he gets the chance, will really be the litmus test.
I agree it’s a top 10 farm system I just don’t agree with their analysis on the players.
Thec’s – Tell me what in the minors is blossoming? I guess I missed it even though I monitor it daily. Casas is a DD guy not Bloom. Houck is a DD guy not Bloom. What exactly is blossoming in the minors?
It’s been four years!!! If you are 12 years old being patient is great. If you are senior citizen who waited over 50 years to see them win a ring then being patient is complete horse crap. You sound like someone being medicated to float through life and not achieve anything because that’s exactly what Bloom has done to the Red Sox for FOUR years!!!
WAKE UP!!! This is still a tear down not a rebuild!!! Do you even follow the Red Sox to be so completely uniformed as to what has happened the last four years?
They were 78 and 84 last year. so .500 would be 3 games better. That’s a big improvement? WOW
BLOOM IS GOING TO BE FIRED FOR INCOMPETENCE!!!
Look at the time since he arrived and find some positives. The MLB team no longer has most of it’s all-stars, the minor league system has rotated out players and replaced them with lesser players and the coaching staff hasn’t improved during Bloom’s tenure.
Why keep a guy a fifth year after he’s failed miserably for FOUR CONSECUTIVE YEARS?
Your comments make no sense and suggest you have no idea what is going on with the Red Sox.
KD: “If you are 12 years old being patient is great. If you are senior citizen who waited over 50 years to see them win a ring then being patient is complete horse crap.”
What if you waited over 40 years for the championship and you’re still patient?
I’m willing to wait and see on everything. I learned that from my father. It has served me well at times and not worked so well at other times. Patience is a virtue? I think also it allows you to collect more information before you reach a conclusion. This Colorado series is sure frustrating but it’s typical this year.
Yep, Chaim has got to go!
It’s critical they go with an everyday SS. My suggestion Robles. He’s not flashy but gets the job done defensively.
Bring Dalbec back let Casas get some swings in the Woos camp. Last I looked Dalbec had 14 dingers and 39 RBI’s- playing all 4 infield positions and RF.
Casas has got the ‘deer in the headlights’ look and lost his confidence. Kike had the same look last night after making the error. Somebody might be interested in him if Bloom pays half his salary. It’s tough saying that about a major league player but he definitely needs to be out of SS with the Sox.
You’ve got 90 +- games left. There’s time to right the wrong. Pitching is improving . Catching is acceptable. Outfield is acceptable. 3b, SS and 2b defensively has been awful. Make some moves! If Hamilton is heathy bring him up to play 2b.
Defense wins games: it doesn’t lose games. Refsnyder, Verdugo, and Yoshida need to be in the lineup everyday.
ASAP–CORA and BLOOM have to face the reality, hard decisions have to be made and now!
Madmc- dalbec isn’t the answer. Even when he was on his hit streak hitting 10 homers in 17!games he was still striking out nearly 35% of the time in that same span.
rsfan – Read something other than Fangraphs and Statcast so you better understand the game. Ks are part of the calculation of OBP. OBP determines a player’s chances of contributing to the team. High K’s and Low Ks with the same OBP proves Ks don’t matter. There are always times when a ground out, strike out or fly out are the best outcomes for the team. Generalizations are for lazy fans not comprehending the game or simulation people that create bogus metrics.
KD- you missed my point entirely perhaps you should focus on something other than criticizing someone else’s knowledge. As we’ve seen with dalbec plenty of times now he struggles at the MLB level. Just because he’s hitting well in AAA the strikeouts are alarming and I see no reason to think that that wouldn’t increase in the MLB to a higher level than his current AAA level.
Red Sox used to be really really clever at putting their squads together. Those days of getting the most out of journeymen like Kevin Millar seem way over and this era might have the most number of mega contract players who barely play on the team because of injuries and mediocrity… I literally forgot Trevor Story was on the Red Sox and then of course there’s Chris Sale, which is a much higher profile bust contract…
IRT Millar, Theo might’ve been the best GM n history.
Joe – Lucky provided Theo the best group of mentors in history.
How did Theo do after spending his way to a Cubs title?
Trading for three years of Sale (2017, 2018, 2019) was a good move by Dave Dombrowski, but re-signing him when everyone knew he was hurt and had arm problems (during 2018) is dumb and got Dombrowski fired (deserved so).
Sox are a house of cards.
“Story, of course, isn’t the same caliber of hitter as Harper. He’s a solid but not elite offensive player who’s coming off a .238/.303/.434 showing during his first season in Boston.”
And Harper’s first season with a new team was one of his worst, most strike outs for one season in his career so far, and a less than stellar OPS for him, over 10% below his lifetime OPS.
Pretty much the same OPS result with Story in his first season on a new team and in a new league. So if Story can return to his older levels, not such a bad add to the lineup.
But, as always, we’ll see.
TrillionaireTeamOperator – Sale’s $23MM AAV as a Red Sox player is not a bust contract. It’s the cost of having a numb skull for a manager. DD brought talent to the club and Cora ruined it. He hurt both Sale and Price. Obviously, Eovaldi is now thriving elsewhere so that’s a third elite pitcher who didn’t perform well for Cora.
Put the blame where it belongs; On Cora for mishandling the pitching staff and Bloom for mishandling player personnel moves.
By the time Story and his injured arm come back, this team will be 25 games out of first place. The Red Sox are the last Boston team playing now and they are done in dead last place. I said this at the beginning of the season that this was a poorly constructed team. This is the worst case scenario for Bloom and now he is sticking out like a sore thumb. No way the fans and media are going to give him a pass for 2024. He will be gone either before or at the end of the year.
Today the MLB website published an article where Cora was quoted about the bad defense. He acted as if he’s a huge proponent of playing good defense!!! hahahahaha What a joke!!!
He’s going to move Kiki to 2B or OF and sit Casas more. That makes perfect sense now that Casas is finally hitting!!!! hahahahaha Seriously, how can ANYONE think Cora is a manager?
Cora has played the worst defensive 3B in the history of the Red Sox at 3B for years but he is focused on defense? He says it with his normal poker face, you know the one he used when denied cheating until he got caught!!! He’s a joke as a manager and an even bigger joke as a human being.
The team needs to clean house and start with someone who has integrity even if the owners don’t have it. Then they can build a respectable organization with a merit system based on performance. That means Devers becomes the DH, Kiki is gone as are the other Bloom clowns pretending to be major league players.
2024 needs to be a year where the fans can once again be proud of their team and the front office. It’s time to turn the ship around and head in different direction. A winning direction fueled by wise choices by the GM and Manager. I want to see more duck boat parades in the future and that’s not even on the horizon with Bloom as GM.
I agree 100 percent with you. I heard Bradford early this morning and he said the same thing that I did. You cannot keep finishing in last place in the city of Boston. This is not Tampa where they do not draw much in attendance. There is no guarantee that these young player are going to be superstars. Bloom inherited a talented team when Dave Dombroski was fired. He blew it up by trading Betts, Benintendi, and letting Bogaerts go. He picked up Schwarber and let him go to free agency when they guy wanted to stay. He picked up Hunter Renfro then traded him for Jackie Bradley Jr. and brought him back, why I have no idea. He trusted Sale who has thrown minimum inning 49 over two years. He let Eovaldi go to free agency and traded Vazquez to a team (Houston) we were playing that night. I am dumbfounded by what he does. He let Wacha go to pick up a clearly done Cory Kluber. I am wondering when Paxton is going to get hurt again. This is a bad team with no continuity at all.
Well said, AL.