Trevor Story’s had a strong spring training. Can he carry it into the regular season?
Story's hitting .324 with a .999 OPS so far in spring training as the Red Sox hope he can get back to his old form.
The Red Sox have a few welcomed performances in spring training.
Ceddanne Rafaela hit well enough to make the roster while some of their backend starters have had some solid outings to solidify their spots in the rotation.
But arguably the most pleasant surprise of the exhibition season was Trevor Story. The shortstop has been one of the Red Sox’ best hitters in the spring, arguably being their best hitter outside of Rafael Devers. He’s 13 of 37 (.324) at the plate, posting a .999 OPS with two homers and eight RBIs in 15 exhibition games.
From an average standpoint, those numbers are far better than how Story has hit over his first two seasons with the Red Sox. He slashed .238/.303/.434 with 16 homers and 66 RBIs in 94 games in 2022 before slashing .203/.250/.316 with three homers and 14 RBIs in 43 games last season. He missed 187 games in between, suffering multiple injuries as a torn ligament in his right elbow required surgery and forced him to miss the majority of last season.
So, whether Story’s strong spring training will carry over into the regular season remains to be seen. But there are some encouraging signs that he could be turning a corner.
Over Story’s six seasons with the Rockies, his two best spring trainings proceeded two of the three best seasons of his MLB career. He slashed .340/.407/.792 with six homers over 53 at-bats in the 2016 exhibition season before slashing .272/.341/.567 with 27 homers in 97 games during his rookie season. Story’s 13.8 at-bats per home that season would’ve ranked fifth in the majors that season had he had enough at-bats to qualify.
Two years later, Stoy had another strong spring training. He hit more for average during the exhibition season, slashing .370/.433/.648 with only one home run in 54 at-bats. However, Story hit a career-high 37 homers with an impressive .291/.348/.567 slash line in the 2018 regular season. He also led the majors in extra-base hits that year (85).
Even in 2019, when Story arguably had the best year of his career, he also had a solid spring training. He slashed .245/.356/.510 with four homers in 49 at-bats during the exhibition season that year before slashing .294/.363/.554 with 35 homers in the regular season.
The point is, Story’s best seasons have coincided with solid-to-strong spring trainings in the leadup to the regular season.
Before this year, Story didn’t really have the opportunity to have a solid spring training since he joined the Red Sox. He signed his six-year, $140 million just weeks prior to the start of the 2022 regular season due to the lockout, only recording 11 at-bats in spring training as he also missed time due to the birth of his child. He missed all of spring training last year due to the elbow surgery.
Story recently admitted that the unusual offseasons might have played a hand in his struggles over his first two years with the Red Sox.
“It’s been tough for a few years,” Story recently told reporters. “Whether it’s the surgery or the lockout, it wasn’t just a normal season.
“That’s not an excuse because things happen. But this is the first year in a while it’s been a normal offseason that rolls right into spring training. I feel like myself finally.”
The one thing that hasn’t been too rough for Story during his brief Red Sox tenure is his hitting at Fenway Park. The righty slashed .252/.309/.532 with 12 homers and 39 RBIs in 45 games at Fenway in 2022 before slashing .274/.312/.425 with two homers in 20 games at home last season.
Cora told reporters that he thinks the Red Sox will see “the real Trevor in Boston” in 2024 partly because of his hitting potential at Fenway. But he also believes that Story’s improvement this spring is legitimate.
“Better and better,” Cora told Abraham of Story’s at-bats. “He’s seeing the ball well. Obviously, there are swings and misses and we know that. But he’s in a much better place than two years ago and, obviously, last year. He’s a lot stronger and his mechanics are almost there.”
Story is also optimistic that his play this spring can carry into the regular season, believing that he’s shown that his bat speed is effective again and that he’s “much more settled in” as he’s not playing catchup.
“It seems in some ways kind of like this is the first year for me [in Boston],” Story said. “Now, I’ve got full health, a clear mind. I have high expectations for myself. I know I’m putting in the work, and the spring at-bats have shown that.”
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