Red Sox second baseman Trevor Story has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right hand contusion, retroactive to July 14. Story hasn’t played since July 12, when he was hit by a pitch on his right hand. Catcher Connor Wong has been called up to take Story’s spot on the active roster.
X-rays were negative on Story’s hand, so it appears as though he avoided any long-term damage, even if he hasn’t been ready to play for the better part of a week. The Sox had been hoping that Story could play during this series against the Yankees, but with the All-Star break looming, the club may have opted to give Story a chance to fully recover. Between the backdated placement and the four days of the break, Story would be eligible to be activated on July 24, during Boston’s series with the Blue Jays to open up the second half.
It has been an up-and-down start to Story’s Red Sox tenure, as his first 342 plate appearances in a Boston uniform have resulted in a .221/.289/.423 slash line and 15 home runs. This translates to below-average (93 wRC+/94 OPS+) offensive production overall, and Story has only one truly red-hot stretch to his name this year, when he crushed nine homers over a 63-PA stretch in May. He is among the league leaders in strikeout rate, as his 30.7% mark is his highest since the 2017 season.
This production is well below what Story delivered in his prime years with the Rockies, and it surely isn’t what the Red Sox expected when they signed Story to a six-year, $140MM deal in March. The team can only hope Story heals up and then uses the All-Star break as something of a reset, since an in-form Story would be a huge boost to Boston’s chances of reaching the postseason. Promisingly, Story has a tendency to come on late, with an .894 career OPS in the second half of the season (as opposed to an .815 OPS in the first half).
A sob story…
The pitcher who hit him should also be disqualified from play for the same number of days that Story is unable to play at the Major League level.
Jackssson – The article failed to mentioned Story was hit on the hand while swinging at the pitch.
Not a surprise considering the guy can’t take a pitch to save his life.
He has a pathetic .289 OBP and 30.7% Strikeout Percentage
Highly overpaid for those type of numbers, even with the great defense and baserunning.
I wouldn’t say Story is near Dalbec with his swing, that is go after anything the pitcher decides to throw up there Fever. He has maintained a near 10% walk rate, which for today’s game is considered decent and has done a not so bad job of pushing the guys ahead of him across the plate.
Maybe when he finally gets to play his more accustomed position of SS the bat will improve, tho it’s only a thought. I’ve got more complaints about the black hole at the bottom third of the lineup than worry about a guy who isn’t doing to bad myself.
John – Nobody is near Dalbec with his swing! LOL!!
Okay Story’s 8.2 BB% is 84th out of 157 so you’re right he’s not horrible at walking and his .886 OPS with RISP is certainly decent.
But his OBP is ranked 137th out of 157 so ….. I guess what I’m saying is for the contract, not good.
If he was making let’s say $5M-$10M a year then I’d be less critical of course.
“$5M-$10M a year then I’d be less critical of course.”
You think you couldve signed Story or any player of his caliber for 5Mil? Lol.
Story has 2.1 WAR. Thats because that stat takes into consideration more than just a player’s worst stat. He has 15 HRs, 10 SBs to 0 CSs and excellent defense. 2.1 WAR at this point in the season, for prorated 25mil is in line with what is expected.
“This production is well below what Story delivered in his prime years with the Rockies, and it surely isn’t what the Red Sox expected when they signed Story to a six-year, $140MM deal in March. ” – MLBTR writer
Go check out Carpenter’s WAR and salary.
Go check out Trevino’s WAR and salary.
Go check out Willy Adames’ WAR and salary.
I’m not gonna waste my time pointing out all the players who have as good or better WAR at a fraction of Story’s salary. You want to disagree, take it up with everyone who isn’t a Bloom suckup.
So get every overperforming anomaly before they become anomalies….I feel your going to need Eleven and her Stranger Thing friends to help you with that
Lol Cap.
Cashman has done a far better job of that than Bloom, wouldn’t you agree?
Carpenter
Cortes
Trevino
Voit
DJ
Urshela
One look at Story’s year-by-year decline, along with the Coors Effect, should have been enough of a warning. This season’s fail isn’t all on Cora, it’s also on Bloom and his analytics.
If the Sox are one of only 9 AL teams to miss the postseason this year, despite having the 2nd-highest payroll in the league, this year’s team will go down with 2019 as one of the biggest failures in Red Sox history.
“Cashman has done a . . .”
I wouldn’t agree with that at all. Cashman’s Yankees salary most every year out paces the Red Sox. Yet he hasn’t won a WS since 2009. Bloom has just started building the Red Sox, and is doing a fine job, restocking the farm, and still competing. The team was a sham when he took over and it will take a few years to build, yet he somehow found a way to get to ALCS last year.
Oh, and you made comments like this last year on almost every Red Sox post along the way to the ALCS. Who can forget the trading deadline rants from you about not doing enough.
Moody – You know I was referring to acquiring players who then suddenly performed far better than they had been performing …. right?
I won’t even get into the other stuff, because it’s not really Bloom’s team yet. Not with the core of stars that he inherited still carrying the team.
I think next year will finally be Bloom’s team, with JD & Xander & Vazquez & Nate and maybe Devers all gone.
As for last year’s trade deadline, you have me confused with someone else. I was ecstatic about the acquisition of Schwarber, and later on the acquisition of Iglesias. Sure Bloom should have done more, but fortunately the heroics of Devers in the final series of the regular season prevented the Sox from missing the postseason.
“Cashman has done a far better job of that than Bloom”
Its pretty clear what you meant, theres nothing to misunderstand. You want to call Cashman better than Bloom, but only want to use your selected input as proof.
Cashman hasn’t done better than Bloom period. I’d call not being in the WS since 2009 even though you have the best scouting money can buy and higher payroll than every other team during that period, would be an abject failure. All the while Bloom has produced just as good and sometimes better teams, with out nearly the resources in Tampa and Boston.
Wow Moody …. with your superhuman ability to read clear and concise statements and somehow know the person was thinking something totally different, why do you even bother reading anything at all here? Why not use your telepathic powers to just read everyone’s mind?
Guess what I’m thinking now? I don’t have to say it, because you already know!!!
I dont care what you want to revise your statement to. Its what you said. Own it.
So now my name is ‘Moody’. Youve turned to insults. You really have the mentality of a 3rd grader.
Is Cora fired yet? I hope not but see it coming
pwndroia – It will be interesting because as you probably know Henry was the guy who decided to bring him back and has been a big supporter of Cora. Even though Bloom is certainly partially to blame for the team’s awful performance, typically a managerial change happens before a front office change.
However … with Henry recently calling 2022 yet another “building year” it sounds like he’s not too concerned about winning this season, which means Cora stays.
Still on the fence with Bloom. He’s done some good and built the farm but building a year to year winner… not sure on that. The games we play we lose by a little, win by a lot but this season it’s been Cora on late inning decisions. The guy is great for the postseason but not a great regular season manager, so it’s hard to know but I think there’s good and bad with both.
pwndroia – I absolutely agree. Of course Bloom has made some great moves, but his bullpen construction was atrocious and the bench depth has been an absolute joke.
Why is JBJ starting every day with a .355 Road OPS!!!
Why can’t Bloom sign hidden gems like Carpenter!!!
“Why is JBJ starting every day with a .355 Road OPS!!!”
With his defense and .764 Home OPS, Bradley should be starting everyday.
Refsnyder stands out as a gem. I had super low expectations for this guy and he’s done way better, but as you indicate, his bullpen construction was not great. Cora just makes it worse with his gutsy decisions.
pwndroia – Yes I agree Ref has been great. He’s made a few mistakes in the outfield, but his bat more than makes up for it.
“Why can’t Bloom sign hidden gems like Carpenter!!!”
He has found a handful, like Schreiber and Danish to lend a hand, tho agree 100% the guys signed to MILB deals have been like about every GM has done last dozen years and been junk for the most part, no gems with maybe 1 Brasier tossed in for good measure every 2-3y or so.
What gets me still to this day was that awful swap back for JBJ in the 1st place for Renfroe, who had refound his power bat to get a cpl kids, not that great and taking on all that salary Bradley is owed.. FINALLY getting rid of him and now stuck with his lethargic bat and salary with -0= outfielders it seems at Worchester to take his place.. Can you say shortsighted?
I want to see Granberg get a chance. Watch a few AAA games. not so sure his as slow as some say it is.. he’s hit at every level and can play RF-CF.
Fever.. True answer as to whether or not Cora stays and it’s a “real” effort to win next few years is whether or not henry means what he hinted at in the recent Globe article regarding devers and Bogaerts. Now, I think he may lean on Bloom to break the bank a bit harder towards devers this coming offseason towards Devers over Bogaerts.. Like Maybe 300m worth if that’s enough and too much in my mind, but my 2c worth.
If he doesn’t get bloom to resign either this offseason? I think Cora goes. The cases are linked.
John – You have valid points there. I have said all along as much as I like Xander, if we can only keep one it should be Devers. David’s comments the other day I think put a little more pressure on the front office to sign Raffy.
They will have a ton of money coming off the books after this season. Attendance is down (32K from 36K) and I do believe if Xander, Devers, JD and Nate are all gone after this season they will make a huge acquisition … and I mean truly huge, not Story huge.
johnsilver: Why do you think they are linked? Just curious.
Fever: Who is David? David Ortiz?
suit – Yes these are some of his comments:
“I hope the Red Sox make sense about the decision they have to make about him. We’ve got to keep Devers around. It’s the face of that organization, as of right now. Nobody can argue that. Devers might be one of the top three pure hitters right now. Not ‘might,’ because I’m 100% sure right now. When I see Devers, it’s like I never left. He’s fearless, and at such an early age he looks invincible out there. Everything is going really good for him.. When I watch him, I’m expecting something. Once you have that kind of player, there is no other way [but] to compare him to myself, because he doesn’t waste any at-bats. Every time he steps to the plate, he expects to do something.”
Fever: Thanks. Do you have any concerns about how Devers will age? He looks a bit chunky and I don’t know how hard he works to keep in shape. Just something I’m wondering about.
suit – Yes Devers is a tricky situation for several reasons. As you say, his conditioning is not great and keep in mind he’s been having back issues and other injuries that will take longer to recover from as he ages.
He’s not a smart baserunner and his defense, while improved, is still below average. So how can management justify a $300M+ contract when he isn’t the all-around player that those who have received $300M+ contracts are?
I still think he will follow Vlad’s career path, eventually moving to 1B or DH. Henry and management have emphasized improving team defense, which is why Story and JBJ were brought in and both Xander and Raffy could be gone.
I think there will be major changes this offseason, and with that I think John could be right about Cora going as well. Somebody has to take the fall for this season, and I doubt it will be Bloom.
Good luck to Connor’s Wong
Taco – I remember a Red Sox player who was named after four different body parts.
Tony Armas
Where have they gone, Rusty Kuntz and Dick Pole?
Total bust and total failure. When Bogaerts and I held our annual charity event for inner city youth living with food insecurities, he took me to the side and said, “Jimmy, this Story signing isn’t go to work out.”
I tried to remain positive for him, as friends and business partners often do but he could hear the panic in my voice. I think it was at that very moment Bogaerts decided he was done with Boston
Jimmy – Look at this year’s team, the same All-Stars (Xander, Raffy, JD) are carrying the team this year as they did last year.
Bloom thinks he can replace all three with cheaper alternatives, but so far he’s 0-for-1 and I don’t have much hope for the other two future replacements.
This team has ZERO depth
Pedro – I have to agree with you. We have seen it time and time again, the guys coming to the plate in huge situations is downright embarrassing.
Case in point, Thursday at Tampa … Sox trailing 5-4 with a runner on 2B in the 9th … and who comes to the plate with the game on the line?
Plawecki and his .150/.266/.213
Dalbec and his .204/.287/.333
Downs and his .200/.235/.200
For a farm system that is supposed to be deep, hard to believe there are no better options with Casas being injured.
Bloom should have gone all-out for Carpenter, obviously.
After they lose today the 4-10 run I predicted will come to pass. The sox will generate some hope after the AS break but water will seek its own level. Bloom will do some “show” moves,but not what should be done. I ‘m beginning to believe Henry is maneuvering to sell and walk away because he has little interest in winning. The battle for 4th place with the Orioles will be our only distraction.
Not sure what you consider a “show” move. Im guessing Bloom did a “show” by signing Schwarber last season, and most on these Red Sox ‘fans’ on MLBTR were pretty upset that he didnt do more. Schwarber ended up being the most productive player acquired at the deadline, per WAR, and the Red Sox got to the ALCS. He, also, cost a lot less than many of the other acquisitions. I’ll take another one like that.
signing Schwarber last season, and most on these Red Sox ‘fans’ on MLBTR were pretty upset that he didnt do more.
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We have some posters in here that will simply hate every move. Has KD, Parks, AL34, Randy or GARSfan ever liked a RS acquisition? Had they acquired Soto & Alvarez, they’d have hated those acquisitions as well.
Joe – Not for nothing, but your friend KD did like the Story signing.
So you actually had something in common with him …. how does that make you feel? LOL
piersall – I have often been accused of being overly optimistic, but still I am gonna go out on a limb and say today will be the day the Sox FINALLY win a divisional series for the first time this season.
And yes, it’s quite pathetic they haven’t won one yet.
But I have faith in Sale, Whitlock and Houck are rested, and the Sox usually do well against Cole.
You heard it here first, folks … Sox win their first divisional series TODAY!
Well see THAT is why I don’t like making predictions!!
Obviously once Sale got hurt, all bets were off.
But even if he didn’t get hurt, they were hitting him pretty hard so it probably would have been an L anyway.
I still can’t believe it will be at least until July 23rd before the Red Sox win a divisional series, and they are now 12-25 against the AL East.
What a horrific season it’s been.
Well see THAT is why I don’t like making predictions!!
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And that is why I do like it. The more variance there is in your calculus, the more it rewards the global thinker. Think of it like backgammon. Not an overly complicated game, but skill with the doubling cube outweighs skill with knowing which checkers to move.
Story is going to knock in 100+ and hit about 30 homers. He’s also going to be about league average in walks. The only hole in Story’s game has been his strikeouts and that is in Dalbec and Gallo territory it needs to be fixed. Here’s the question for the FO to figure out: What will be easier to fix Bogaerts power drought or Story’s strikeouts? Bogaerts in a contract year is not hitting for the same power as he typically does and that to me is the bigger concern than Story’s strikeouts (assuming Dalbec is benched, ya can’t have 3 almost automatic strikeouts in your lineup JBJ, Dalbec, and Story)
King – I agree with you 100%. It is not just Bogaerts lack of HRs, but Story is also a much better defensive SS as well. Bogaerts is no longer a league average defender and moving into his 30s, so it is not like his defense will improve. Story will be the SS in Boston in 2023. If the Red Sox were to re-sign Bogaerts, where would he play?
Story is hitting for power and driving in runs. JD and Bogaerts are getting on base, but not getting big hits to drive in runs on a consistent basis. Story will be at SS in 2023, and the Red Sox will either give 2B to Downs or bring in a new second baseman,
Dumb question… although maybe not ? When a guy is put in the 10 day IL. Does that really mean 10 games ? Because with a 3 or 4 day pause at the All Star break, does that count on his 10 days off ,