The Boston Red Sox have been without veteran shortstop Trevor Story since May 14th, after which he needed to step away for a sports hernia surgery. Since then, it’s been a long rehab process.
Luckily, in a season of rotten injury luck for the Red Sox, they got some good injury news as it relates to Story. Chris Cotillo reported in MassLive that Story is actually recovering quicker than the team had previously expected. Interim manager Chad Tracy and Story himself would both recently confirm that.
“He’s actually progressing pretty nicely,” Tracy recently said. “Let’s call it ‘running,’ it’s not full-bore sprinting, but he’s jogging at a pretty good pace. He has actually swung a bat off a tee a little bit. He’s got a ways to go but he’s in a better spot than I’d figure I’d see him at this point. He’s making pretty good steps.”
When Story first went down with the injury, he needed to decide whether or not to get surgery. In the end, he landed on the surgery, which was expected to keep him sidelined for two to three months.
“We’re right on schedule, doing it the way we want to do it,” Story said after Thursday’s game. “I’m excited about that. We’re still trying to shoot for that, what I said the first time, 8-12 weeks. I think it’s just important to do it right this first time. From guys that I’ve talked to, and our surgeon, too. Get it right the first time so you don’t have to deal with it down the road.”
Story had struggled when playing this season. He’s only hitting .206 with a .244 OBP, a .303 slugging percentage, and a .547 OPS in 41 games and 165 at-bats. Defensively, he also made 6 errors. However, those struggles likely could be associated with the injury, which Story had been trying to play through.
“It’s a situation where you can go at your own pace but you don’t want to be too crazy with that,” Story said.
Trevor Story Shared the Latest on His Progress
GettyBoston Red Sox SS Trevor Story
By no means is Trevor Story ready to hit the field for the Red Sox right away. His rehab has a long way to go, and there’s plenty of room for a setback. For now, though, he’s in a good place.
“I’m feeling good,” Story said. “I’m doing some running and with the legs, getting the strength back in there. Doing a lot more baseball stuff now. Hitting off the tee a little bit. I would say the defense and the side-to-side full-out sprints is probably the most taxing on it and somewhere where we have to be patient — but also aggressive at the same time.”
In the next week or so, Story shared that he hopes to take the next steps in his rehab. In particular, getting back into swinging the bat more.
“Progressing the swinging more,” Story said. “The swinging is ahead, because that’s the least taxing on the area. We’ll get into some flips and maybe some BP next week. Then, I would imagine getting into getting the glove (going). We have the arm going, so we’re getting the throwing program going. We’ll see about ground balls possibly next week or the week after.”
In all of this, injuries have unfortunately become the story for Story’s time with the Red Sox. Since getting to Boston in 2022, he’s only played in more than 100 games once, which came last season. In 2023 and 2024, he combined to play in just 69 games total.
“It’s frustrating, man,” Story said. “It’s hard to believe that this is where we’re at. It’s hard to put into words that this is where we’re at. I wouldn’t believe it at all if you told me this at the beginning of the year. Obviously, a lot of things play into that. But there’s still a lot of ball left.”
Where Story Fits For the Boston Red Sox
GettyTrevor Story and Marcelo Mayer of the Boston Red Sox
Coming into the season, Trevor Story had been the starting shortstop for the Boston Red Sox. With him getting injured, they were forced to get creative, though, moving Marcelo Mayer to short and starting a revolving door at second base.
Mayer, once a top prospect, has not played well on the season, but it looks like the Red Sox are happy to let him keep going through growing pains. The question is whether or not that will be at second base or shortstop.
After being drafted as a shortstop, it would make some sense to let him take over that position, and hopefully grow into it. However, part of why he’s been asked to play second base more this season comes down to his arm strength, or lack thereof. Per Baseball Savant, his Fielding Run Value is in the 48th percentile, or below league average. His arm strength, at just the 20th percentile, is the main reason for that. So, it may make sense to make the position change permanent, especially with the organization’s top prospect, Franklin Arias, also playing shortstop.
At the same time, with Story at the 21st percentile in Fielding Run Value, 13th percentile in Range, and 23rd percentile in Arm Strength, he’s worse defensively compared to Mayer. So, if the Red Sox want to win in 2026, it may make sense to move Story to second base once he’s healthy, too.
Red Sox Injury Update: Trevor Story Latest Since Sports Hernia Surgery