Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora pulled Trevor Story from the lineup for Sunday's series finale against the rival Baltimore Orioles. The skipper described the decision ostensibly as giving Story a reset and, while he left the door open to continue that for Monday's matinee against the Milwaukee Brewers, Story was back in the lineup hitting seventh. And, shocking precisely no reasonable Red Sox fan, the reset didn't work quite clearly with some woeful at-bats from the veteran leader.
With one out and runners on first and third, Story popped up to the shortstop in his first at-bat against the Brewers, ultimately leading to both Red Sox baserunners being stranded. He then watched a clear strike-three cross the dish in his second trip to the plate. It was more of the same for a player who entered the game with a .406 OPS and has been a complete negative for this team.
Not that they hadn't already, but Red Sox fans had seen enough even after the first unproductive at-bat on Monday.
Hitting a single in his third trip to the plate doesn't eliminate the big question in all of this, however, which is how Cora and the Red Sox front office haven't pulled the plug on Story when he's clearly not an asset anymore.
Alex Cora needs to face reality with Trevor Story for Red Sox to turn season around
When Cora had Story out of the lineup on Sunday, he told Christopher Smith of MassLive about the process of trying to reset the veteran shortstop and clubhouse leader. He acknowledged Story's struggles but also noted that he's putting in the work to try and turn his season around.
"Disconnect him today. Maybe tomorrow. And keep working," Cora said. "It’s not a lack of working. It’s been a lot. And maybe just kind like back up and just watch the game from a different perspective."
Of course, Cora didn't disconnect him on Monday and the results simply didn't change. And at this point, it's hard to believe they will. The OPS in May is atrocious, the OPS on the season is hovering around .600, the defense has regressed to be a negative with the glove, and Story clearly just doesn't have the bat to hit major-league pitching at this point, as Smith noted by saying that the shortstop is hitting .182 with just one extra-base hit, a double, against fastballs this season.
Fans can see it clear as day that Story is actively hurting the Red Sox. With the season mired in mediocrity as they entered Monday's tilt a game under .500 for the season, Boston can't afford to have someone actively giving uncompetitive at-bats in the lineup (more so than they already do with some other headaches). And while losing Alex Bregman to injury complicates things, it's not a viable excuse to put a player who isn't major league caliber anymore in the lineup almost every day.
Alex Bregman injury isn't an excuse for Red Sox to keep betting on Trevor Story
Cora's assessment of sitting Story just isn't realistic at this point. He's not the player he once was, plain and simple. He's not a Super Nintendo game that you can take out of the system, blow in the cartridge, and then get back to saving Princess Peach. He's an athlete who has been devastated by injuries and can't produce at the level he once did, specifically when the Red Sox signed him as a free agent.
After calling up top prospect Marcelo Mayer in the wake of the Bregman injury when many Red Sox fans had him penciled in to replace Story, I'm sure Cora and Craig Breslow would argue that they don't have options. That's simply not true, though, especially if Boston is serious about fielding a playoff team. They aren't doing that now, but they could.
Just as frustratingly committed as the Red Sox appear to be with Story, the same is true with their marriage to Ceddanne Rafaela in centerfield despite him barely posting an OPS over .600 on the year and putting together some of the most uncompetitive and frustrating at-bats you'll ever witness as a baseball fan.
At a certain point, Rafaela's defense isn't enough to warrant having him and Story in the lineup, especially without Bregman's presence in the heart of the order. But if the Red Sox would finally call up Roman Anthony, move Rafaela into a utility role to play shortstop, give other outfielders a breather, or whatever you need, and then, at minimum, platoon Story to only play against lefties. That's not the only course of action, but it's plausible.
Make no mistake, the Red Sox have plenty of problems. Starters need to be more consistent and they need to find the right bullpen mix. However, the offense has been brutally inconsistent and Story is at the heart of that. This team needs a shot in the arm, and it's plain as day that any move to get Story out of the lineup could help provide that — or at least that's obvious to everyone except, it seems, Alex Cora.