Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story injured his shoulder on Friday as he dove to field a groundball. He hit the ground in significant distress and eventually left the game holding his arm. Shortly afterward, the team told reporters (including Christopher Smith of MassLive) that he exited with “left shoulder pain.” Presumably, the Red Sox will provide more details after the game, although Story might need further evaluation on Saturday before receiving a proper diagnosis.
Story has been something of an injury magnet throughout his career, spending time on the injured list in six of his first eight MLB seasons from 2016-23. He tore a thumb ligament in 2016, suffered a shoulder strain in 2017, sprained his thumb in 2019, dealt with elbow inflammation in 2021, and fractured his wrist (and suffered a heel contusion) in 2022. Most recently, he spent the first four months of the 2023 season recovering from an internal brace procedure to repair his UCL.
The Red Sox, who signed Story to a six-year, $140 million contract ahead of the 2022 campaign, were counting on him to be their regular shortstop this year. He struggled tremendously at the plate in 2023, slashing .203/.250/.316 in 43 games. However, he looked phenomenal at shortstop, producing 8 DRS and 8 OAA in just 314 defensive innings. Surely, the Red Sox were hoping that after a regular, healthy offseason, Story could get back on track at the plate. Over his first seven seasons, he produced an .849 OPS and 111 wRC+.
Instead, it seems as if Story is headed to the injured list early in 2024. Boston is low on infield depth with second baseman Vaughn Grissom already on the IL, but Pablo Reyes can cover at shortstop. Meanwhile, utility man Romy Gonzalez, currently at Triple-A, is a likely candidate to fill an empty spot on the bench.
Oh no
Sergio
Fenway – Bloom and his lame analytics department will forever be remembered for this horrific contract.
Fpg. Why because story has been injured through most of the contract?…looking at trevor storys career prior to boston he had 1 season where missed significant time to injury..thats it..so really there was zero indication he would suddenly turn into an injury prone player..sure bloom and the sox might look back and say that didnt work out but at the time it was a fine deal and nobody could have predicted it woukd turn out like this..its not like the man has played poorly hes just been injured…it happens but totally unfair to assume that was prdictable by the FO at the time.
Pool – Sorry but it would really help if you actually read the articles. I shouldn’t have to quote the above article. Not sure how you missed all his prior injuries. Leo doesn’t make stuff up.
“Story has been something of an injury magnet throughout his career, spending time on the injured list in six of his first eight MLB seasons from 2016-23. He tore a thumb ligament in 2016, suffered a shoulder strain in 2017, sprained his thumb in 2019, dealt with elbow inflammation in 2021, and fractured his wrist (and suffered a heel contusion) in 2022. Most recently, he spent the first four months of the 2023 season recovering from an internal brace procedure to repair his UCL.”
Fever i should not have to read the back of his baseball card to you but aside from his rookie season he played in 140+ games in every single year prior to his time with the red sox he even played 59 games in 2020 which is essentially a full season..he never ever missed any significant time due to injury prior to siging in Boston..using the quote to try and make your point without doing any homework on your own makes me question everything you say on this matter
FPG- Story was not an analytics signing. If anything, the opposite. Analytics would have told you he needed to move off of SS during his free agency trip.
I’d be shocked if Henry wasn’t pushing Bloom to sign a “star,” something Story has been referred to for awhile despite not actually being one.
Pool – Where do you think I got the stats on his steady decline beginning in 2020? I rely heavily on BR for much of the facts I present here, of course I know how many games he played each year.
If you think playing in more than 145 games only once in his career means no significant time lost, well that’s your prerogative.
As for me, I will continue to agree with Leo and every other paid baseball writer in saying that missing at least 10% of the season 6 out of 8 years constitutes significant.
my – With all due respect, the reason Bloom was in the market for a shortstop was because they were planning to move on from Xander and they viewed Story as a cheaper option with a better glove (both true BTW).
Without question it was Bloom’s analytics that viewed Story’s peripherals as reason to believe he would reverse the steady offensive decline he was on.
If not for the peripherals, why else would you give $140M to a guy whose OPS dropped from .917 to .874 to .801 (all while in Colorado mind you).
Think about that …. 116 point drop in just 2 seasons. The legacy stats screamed “stay away” but Bloom’s analytics said “sign him”.
Trevor Story hasn’t been much of a peripheral guy since early in his career, though, and that’s why I believe Henry was the driving force for the signing. If you look at Story’s statcast page for 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022, it has a lot of blue on it, and much more blue and grey together than red. Maybe Bloom was hoping he would go back to pre-2019 levels, but it just doesn’t feel like analytics would say “sign this guy,” especially combined with his arm issues and throwing errors.
That said, you make a strong argument about Story being a cheaper, better defender. And I suppose that’s a different type of analytics that can contribute to a decision to sign a guy.
Fever..again..if you simply look up total games played in 2023 as an example you and Leo will find out that only 70 players played 145 games or more..so based on 9 potential positions for each team that could all play 162 thats only 25% . Based on that..75% of the league misses at least 10% ..your logic is and Leos i would assume is flawed in assuming players playing slightly less in storys case indicates more injury risk
No Doubt, I heard that he was having arm issues and decreased velocity before the deal too.
Fenway.anything you heard never caused him to miss serious time..so..what is your point? The rockies doctors just missed it and allowed him to play?..then the red sox doctors at mass general also..missed it? And passed him for the contract..come on..do better than “i heard”
Yes, his arm strength was down from 2020-2021. He was known to be dealing with elbow inflammation in 2021. It wasn’t clear whether it would recover or eventually require surgery, but it was a known issue — and part of why his market was depressed.
The Red Sox got him at a “bargain price” because he was damaged goods. Sometimes you get what you pay for. Sometimes you don’t even get that.
At this rate teams are going to be holding open tryouts by July.
Seriously – between pitchers with elbow issues and injuries so far – we may all have a chance to walk on in a couple months.
Amazing how players become vulnerable to injuries after signing a HUGE contract.
Story and Baez were pretty easy to foresee as bad l-t 9 figure deals that FA offseason.
Story has flat balled out when available though. Freak injuries happen, and they suck, but it’s difficult for me to blame the player for something that happens naturally during a game. Hopefully this was just a stinger or something fixed by a 10 Day rest.
@Gwynning I’m not sure how much you’ve watched the Red Sox the past few years but I wouldn’t classify a career .684 OPS on the Red Sox as “Balling Out.”
He’s been hurt, mostly. Listen- I get it. The point is debatable round and round- if healthy, he’s near top shelf. His D has been extremely impressive, and after watching him for years as a Rockie, I didn’t really see that coming. We could chase our own tails all night with counterpoints. 108 career OPS+ tells me he’s a baller. Has he been worth the contract? Perhaps not, but will he make up for it? It started to look like it before tonight.
Do people even read what other people write? Good lord. Let’s have an argument. I won’t listen but I’ll disagree with everything that I think you said. Holy balderdash.
@gwynning I would say he’s slightly above average at best when he’s healthy. A 108 OPS+ says he’s 8% above average, that’s not balling out, that’s a C+ if he were in school. Giancarlo Stanton has a career OPS+ of 137 and no one would says he’s been balling out at any time in the last 10 years.
His defense may be good, but story will never consistently carry a team when healthy. He may do it for a game here or there, but that’s it.
Ok, fair points Mike & Spec. I’ll concede that I may have overstated Story’s game, if only because when I have watched him then he has impressed me. Beyond what I THOUGHT he would do. I hate to see ANY player hurt, especially on the field and double especially when that player is kinda just getting back to “form”
It’s ok to disagree- but I find that I like to root for players to make a full comeback. Very sad Story to see him hurt… again. Can’t be mad at him though, and maybe remove any prejudices if you find yourself upset that he plays for your squad. I’d take him, but we kinda have enough SSs.
Gwynn – You call making a play at shortstop a “freak injury”?
No, freak injuries are Sale breaking a finger on a line drive or Judge breaking a toe on a defective wall or Sale falling off his bike or Tek tripping on the on deck circle or Sale fracturing a rib on a pitch.
I think Gwynning was referring to Story’s effort, especially in the field, and he’s right about that. He has t hit as well as advertised, but he’s all-in in the field, including the play where he injured himself last night.
Tomato, tomahto. He got injured trying to make a play for his team. He left it all on the field. Any injury sucks, but I feel a tad less remorse when it’s off the field. Then that is “usually” because they were doing something stupid. Jeff Kent falling off his truck, Mason Saunders’ rodeos, Cespedes’ gopher holes, Sale’s bike… that’s on them. Story was hurt trying to win.
yeah, very freak injury cause he was playing hard, can’t really get mad, just disappointed cause he was finally healrhy
yeah, most of time you don’t get a shoulder injury diving for the ball, you see a lot of that injury?, he just landed wrong, I would say that’s a freak injury
The Red Sox goal is to have a long lineup. Balanced righty vs. lefty. A couple of high level hitters with lots of other guys who aren’t easy outs. Story fits that narrative. Was he worth the years and the money? Clearly, no. But it’s always a bidding war, you just have to be able to walk away. That’s a hard lesson to learn. I like having Story out there, he’s a dirt dog. But, that style of play can increase injury likelihood. I still think he can be solid, so I’m hoping this is just a boo-boo and that he’s back soon.
What can’t be overstated or argued is his importance to this team. He completely stabilizes the infield defense they are a different team without him defensively on the field. He takes a lot of stress of the pitchers with huge range and an elite internal clock. If he is lost for any length of time it will be a huge blow to this Red Sox team.
Hes pretty much played injured or coming off an injury his entire sox contract
Gwyn – No offense, but you really seem to be a Story suckup.
You mention his career OPS, but not the fact his offensive numbers have declined every year starting in 2020 thru 2023. That’s four consecutive years, two while still with Colorado.
Perhaps not? Seriously? $47M CBT hit over the past two years and all we got for it offensively is a .685 OPS in 137 games. Sorry, there’s no “perhaps not” about that.
He’s been hurt, FPG. It sucks. Ok, he DEFINITELY hasn’t been worth the contract… does that make you feel better? When factoring injuries, I always think about the “what coulda been” aspect. I’m no Story fanboy, but as I said elsewhere, I’d take him because he’s good. Average < Good < Great < Elite. That's my testimony. I gg, enjoy your day brah!
Ben – When players get injured in the field (not including muscle pulls) it is usually because they were too careless or reckless.
Franchy Cordero ending his Red Sox career crashing into the Tropicana Field wall wasn’t because he was playing extra hard, it’s because he carelessly misplayed a fly ball.
I hope Story gets well and is back in the lineup soon because his defense is awesome, but I hope he plays smarter because he’s of no use on the IL.
Gwynn – Okay cool, so you agree it wasn’t a freak injury. He has to play smarter.
lf – Maybe you’re new to the game ….. shortstops dive for balls.
A lot.
It’s part of their job.
Every time they dive doesn’t mean they are “playing hard”.
All infielders don’t play like Roger Dorn. They don’t refuse to dive if the ball is within reach only if they leave their feet.
hayzee – It was a classic case of Bloom thinking he was the smartest in the room.
That offseason besides Story there was Correa, Seager, Semien, Baez and Taylor who were all free agents with shortstop experience.
Guess who was the last of that list to sign? Story.
Guess why? Because every other team passed on him, either signing one of the others or just going without (ie: Yankees).
Bloom thought he was getting a bargain by waiting until all the others were gone. When in fact, all the other teams knew Story’s true value based on his steadily declining numbers and pre-existing injury.
Bruin – Why are you so down on Rafaela? I would be very comfortable with him as the regular shortstop. Obviously I agree Story is an awesome defender, but they wouldn’t lose much on defense with Rafaela. And getting Story’s bat out of the lineup would be addition by subtraction.
But, that style of play can increase injury likelihood.
======================
This injury isn’t like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed. This was a full-out dive.
Gwynn – Thank you, I feel better now.
I’ll say it again, great defender but is often hurt and not worth the contract even if healthy. So we mostly agree.
Fever I’m not down on Rafaela but I don’t think he’s as good at shortstop as a lot of people seem to think. Story is a far superior defensive shortstop. What I noticed watching minor league he played shortstop he was careless he made quite a few careless errors. He has the athleticism to play a great shortstop but I haven’t seen him put it together at short. My guess if he played the rest of the season at short he would be below average defensively.
Play smarter?You mean let those go by because he shouldn’t dive for balls.Injuries happen.If they played more carefully they wouldn’t try to make plays that could lead to injuries.I go back to Fred Lynn and how he got hurt an awful lot.He was a good player when healthy.But i agree that The Sox only sign players who won’t get hurt.They would be a much better team if they played 162 games each year.
Bruin – I agree Story is superior defensively, no question.
Okay I’ll take your word for it, as I don’t follow the minors as much as you do.
One thing I’ve noticed this year about Rafaela, he’s not lacking in confidence …. dude has a chip on his shoulder, hopefully he backs it up. He definitely is an exciting player with great speed and baserunning skills. A little disappointing he’s still making errors in the OF though.
TB – Funny, I was gonna mention Freddie as well. So wouldn’t you agree it was Freddie’s reckless style of play that caused many of the injuries? Kinda like Jim Edmonds?
Players need to be smart and know when to think “not worth it” unless it’s the postseason or something.
Winslow – Please read the article. He has been injury prone his entire career and Bloom signed him despite knowing of a severe existing arm injury which required surgery within months.
Yeah, mostly because they don’t get that contract until they’re pushing 30 most of the time.
The dangers of giving a mega contract
See also a Nats pitcher who hasn’t pitched much since his mega contract
Which one?
Or the Nats pitcher who has not been injured at all and still hurts his team by pitching every fifth day…
Here’s the story. Of a lovely lady.
How many lovely MLBTR writers was she bringing up?
this dude is made of porcelain sheesh
is this how the Story ends?
Yanks – Big loss on defense, no loss on offense.
The worst part is they could’ve kept Xander Xander was never hurt and produced steadily. They offered more than San Diego per year, but the were a day late and 5 years short.
San Diego will wish they were 5 years short at some point.
Can we get Mookie back now?
I see Mookie’s mom is in the room…
You have no idea whether Mookie liked it in Boston or not.
We do, as he has said so himself.
“You have no idea . . .”
——————————————-
In Boston:
“I wont discuss a contract until after I reach FA”
A few months later, In LA:
“Woohoo, Im out of Boston, where do I sign?”
——————————————-
Yes, we do have a very good “idea” of whether he liked playing in Boston.
APBA- yeah, covid had nothing to do with his decision… c’mon
“Allegedly”? Really? That’s your proof? LMMFAO
IM – I’ve asked others for the link many times, nobody has provided it. Can you please provide it? Because I can provide dozens of links with direct quotes of him saying he loved playing for the Sox and didn’t want to leave.
grnmtn – I totally agree!
It’s shameful for Mookie’s reputation to be smeared, he was a model player on and off the field. He did a lot for the community too, not just financially but in person as well.
Fever – it’s absolutely shameful. He was so scared of walking around Boston that after game 2 he went downtown at 2 AM to feed the homeless. So many ignorant people here that are obviously jealous of the guy that they have to make stuff up just to make themselves feel better.
grnmtn – It really makes you wonder where this smear campaign began. It’s one thing to fabricate because the player is a jerk or whatnot, but Mookie of all people? He is really the perfect player, on and off the field. A tremendous guy. Comes from a military family, so not surprising.
And Boston is the 2nd-safest city in America. If he was concerned about safety, I don’t think he’d be playing in LA right now.
This conversation from last year sums it up best:
McDonough: “It’s a trade that can never be defended and a stain that will never be erased, the trade of Mookie Betts by the Red Sox.”
Castiglione: “Certainly a generational player.”
McDonough: “Plays with a smile on his face. He’s everything you’d want in a player, on and off the field.”
Fever – I believe the smearing stems from insecure fans who either hate him because he’s the best, jealous of his situation or it’s they’re emotionally immature and are lashing out because they perceived that he abandoned them.
he was scared of walking around downtown? that’s absurd! He was doing that to avoid attention to make it not look performative. it’s incredibly hypocritical to go after people for making stuff up when you’re doing the same thing
grnmtnyeti
Covid have everything to do with it? C’mon. Clearly that abrupt of an attitude change was more than Covid.
He clearly had issues with Boston, he would not even discuss a contract extension.
APBA – yeah, he had issues with what they offered him and I don’t blame him.
grnmtn – Excellent points there.
The way I look at it, when fans are forced to take sides between a popular player and the team, they will often choose the team because the player is gone but the team remains.
It’s like if you have two siblings fighting with each other, one moves far away and the other stays close by. If forced to choose, many people will choose the sibling who stays close by.
I also think it’s psychological in that some fans feel like they must support the team in every situation, therefore rather than admitting their team screwed up they instead put the blame for the player leaving on the player.
Girlfriend: “You don’t treat me right, so I’m leaving you”.
Boyfriend: “Well I’m perfect and never do anything wrong, so you’re to blame”.
grnmtn – I believe I saw a comment somewhere here saying Mookie refused to negotiate an extension. It’s pure garbage because he absolutely made the $420M counteroffer.
Fever- right. And then there wasn’t a counter offer, that we know of.
… an unforgivable act, DBH.
Dbh… only if they throw in Brais!!!!LOL
DBH- worst decision in Red Sox history
Bad singing from the outset. Hope TS is back soon, but seems unlikely.
Good signing.
So…. Ceddanne to SS, Duran to CF, Yoshi to LF, Dalbec to 3B, Devers to DH would probably be the best lineup adjustment.
Half jokingly thinking sign JBJ for Center (he and Story hit for the average it seems). Then yoshi back to DH, Devers to 3b (God help us).
No way do we put Dalbec in the lineup. Dude is terrible. Shouldn’t even be on the roster, let alone on the field. Leave the outfield the way it is and let Pablo handle it. At least Pablo isn’t an automatic out. And JBJ??? You gotta be full joking with a comment like that.
This guy is made of glass, real glass.
This is a subtle wrestling reference.
Help me nation…. It says left shoulder….wasn’t all his problems with his right throwing shoulder???
Yes. Maybe I gotta choose my words carefully here, but it was “kind of a possible and unforeseeable freak injury that just happened to happen whilst trying to make a play.” Unrelated shoulder incidents. Hopefully he’s back soon.
Darn it… playing well as a team right now even though the error monster bit them yesterday the still won… I get that not exactly beating 27 Yankees and such but still have to win these!!!
It was a nice win. Listened to the new guy on WEEI (I think?) The radio crew were beside themselves when Story stayed down, said he was in obvious pain. And then Devers pulled up with something (maybe HBP? I already forgot!) and they almost jumped out of the booth! TON is hitting well, and the staff is throwing really well. Ride the hot wave for now! Cheers Mr. Tiant
Olm – So far I’m pleased overall, and not surprised at the great performance of Houk/Whitlock/Pivetta and to a lesser degree Crawford.
But let’s face it, the season really starts Tuesday. Win the series against the O’s and there will be more believers.
It’s tough to ignore the strong starts of the past two seasons though, staying healthy this year will be crucial.
Story said it felt like it was a partial separation, like it popped out of the socket a little. It isn’t related to the TJ on his right shoulder. He just landed wrong on his left
Okay so that’s good as it can be not repaired shoulder… if it is separated/ and can be popped in two weeks?? Saw that he did not leave stadium in a sling… even better…
Well, I remember when Mel Gibson used to just go to the nearest wall and pop it back in. I mean, c’mon Story, man up and hit a wall…..with your shoulder.
The procedure (a brace, not a full TJ surgery) was on his right elbow. Yes, this is on his other side — a bit less critical than his throwing arm, but still something he will need to get healthy before playing again.
Story plays all-out and his body pays the price.
Below 800 ops outside Coors. Lol at signing that guy
He was doing pretty well for us early on. Every player that was offensively minded on the Rockies has generally been comparable elsewhere to some degree.
Coors can’t teach you how to hit a ball and to fundamentally play the gane. It’s an excuse people use.
And OPS+ is park adjusted.
It’s a sad sad story
Guaranteed Fever Pitch Guy will come on here and rant about how another one of his players is hurt and bringing the team down.
It’s time to bring up that SS prospect we hear so much about. Marcelo Mayer, let’s see what he can do until Story is available.
If Story is legit injured the Sox are about to be the worst defensive team in baseball by a wide margin
Tore the supraspinatus in my shoulder doing the same.
Shocked…. Shocked I tell ya!!
To think, Chaim gave this guy >20m APY of Henrys hard earned cheddah!
Someone saw Good Will Hunting recently…
such a disappointment, he was off to a great start and looked healthy, such a freak injury, can imagine him coming back soon it looked really painful, I was literally thinking during his first at bat of the game, “man I hope he can stay healthy, he could be a big contributor” and like an inning or two later he was out of the game
Tommy Pham is still available and cheap. Rafaela to ss Duran back to center field. Defense gets a little worse but still good and offense gets a little better, at least compared to what Story has been lately and how Abreu has looked so far
Just bring Marcelo up a play the kid.
Players can easily tear Labrum in shoulder making diving, outreached plays like the one Story attempted. Almost always requires surgery and if so, he would be done for the year.
The worst part of this is that it will make the ownership even more hesitant to sign free agents. You can expect several more years of dumpster diving by the front office.
Mull – I don’t think they can get any more hesitant. Despite all their needs look at how little they spent on free agents this past offseason.
Let’s see, leading the league in bitching (yup, pun intended) so we don’t need help there . Need Grissom to get healthy to shore up second base, that’s about it. The manager has a .545 winning percentage even with two last place finishes, wo we’re fine there as well.
Not sure what they were supposed to spend their money on, but they’re in first place.
hayzee – Your post made me smile, lots of fantastic nuggets especially your last sentence. I’m bookmarking it.
Hope you stick around all season.
Good. Should be hesitant
Story of his life.
The T Story contract will go down as one off the leagues worst. Detroit has one small one brewing with Maeda, he’s been shockingly bad so far this year. Washed up ? We’re hoping not, but with healthy Manning on the farm what or how long will Detroit do or go ?
Are u dumb? 1 bad start
LOL… I think the Baez Contract should be considered in your Statement, because that one has been brewing and is now a “grande”. Or in 7-11 terms… A BIG GULP!
Yea it’s worse then Story contract if Detroit had a competent backup shortstop or a prospect that was ready I think they would dfa him he’s awful.
One of the league’s worst contracts? Slow down
Yes, because while it hasn’t gone as well as they hoped when they signed him, the Baez contract, which had the same details is worse, though there are several contracts that are far worse than that one as well.
Oh boy. Here we go. It was only a matter of time.
Get a clue, Story isn’t a pitcher.
Ignore Fever — he is a troll.
That’s the end of the story…
Great Contract…
My dead grandmother could hit a 350yd controlled fade, on every par4/5…shoulda seen it.