In what turned out to be another Boston Red Sox loss, their third in a row to the Milwaukee Brewers and season-high fifth straight loss overall, shortstop Trevor Story came up in the 10th inning with “ghost runner” Nick Sogard on second base — and rapped a solid single into left field.
Under normal circumstances a base hit in a clutch situation would be the least a team would except from a two-time All-Star being paid $22.5 million in the fourth year of a six-season, $140 million contract. But the circumstances around the 32-year-old 10-year veteran Story are anything but normal.
The Red Sox entered the 2025 season after an exciting offseason that saw most every major MLB expert commentator predict that they would at least make the postseason, or even get to the World Series.
But after 58 games, and with Memorial Day — the traditional point at which MLB teams stop looking at their “start” and think ahead to their whole season — in the rear view mirror, Boston is mired in dark times, nine games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East and 4 1/2 out of the third AL Wild Card spot.
Trevor Story an Emblem For Red Sox Struggles
The team has shown few if any signs of turning the season around, scoring a mere 13 runs over 47 innings in their current five-game losing streak. In games decided by one run, the Red Sox have lost 15 and won only six.
Red Sox outfielder Rob Refsnyder provided a candidly blunt but undeniably accurate assessment of his team on Monday when he told reporters, “We suck.”
At the center of the misery is Story, whose base hit in extra innings Wednesday was only his seventh hit in his last 44 at-bats, a batting average of .159. In fact, .159 is also his average for the entire month of May, in which his OPS is a sorry .405. Of his 14 hits this month, only two have gone for extra bases, a double and a home run.
With runners in scoring position, Story has been abysmal all season long, batting just .190 with 11 hits and just two walks while striking out 20 times in 60 opportunities.
With the Red Sox’ obvious urgency to play better baseball and climb back into the pennant race, Story’s doom-sprial of a slump has led to pressure on the Red Sox to simply cut ties with the shortstop, possibly even designating him for assignment, a move that means he would be dropped from the 40-man roster and traded or released within seven days.
Calls Mount to Cut Ties With Badly Slumping Shortstop
“The time has come. DFA Trevor Story. Let the Anthony-Mayer-Campbell trio all grow up in the big leagues together,” wrote Section 10 podcast host Steve Perrault earlier this week, referring to rookies Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell, as well as No. 1 prospect Roman Anthony who is still stashed at Triple-A Worcester.
In addition to Perrault, Red Sox beat reporter Chris Cotillo of MassLive spoke Wednesday about the urgency of the Story situation.
“We were talking on this show about, will he opt out at the end of this season? I don’t think he will. Will the Red Sox opt out I think is the bigger question,” Cotillo said on the Fenway Rundown podcast. “You hate to see a guy who’s a good guy and a good clubhouse leader … be in DFA territory.”
Story himself is not unaware of his dire circumstances, telling MassLive columnist Sean McAdam, “it’s been bad.”
Story added that while “the highs have been high … the lows have been really low, too. I’m not oblivious to that … You have to kind of calm those waters when it’s not going good. And I haven’t done a good job of that.”
Calls Mount For Red Sox to DFA $140 Million All-Star Stuck in Apocalyptic Slump