Trevor Story is widely known as a clubhouse leader for the Boston Red Sox. That alone gives him the benefit of the doubt in many scenarios. However, we've reached a point where that benefit has run out, especially for an offense that's underperforming overall and a team that needs a spark at 25-26. The Red Sox need to realize sooner rather than later that Story is no longer a viable MLB shortstop and that Marcelo Mayer needs to take his place.
That starts with how poorly Story has performed outside of a hot stretch in mid-April. He's 13-for-100 with 36 strikeouts over his last 100 at-bats and has just one extra-base hit over that time. For a lineup that already was inconsistent at the bottom and then lost even the hopeful upside of Triston Casas for the season, that's no longer viable.
To make matters worse, the one justifiable reason you could have for Story remaining the everyday shortstop would be his defense. Especially with the Red Sox' awful defense last year while he was injured, he was billed as the savior. Instead, he's been fine at best and a problem at times. He's currently at -3 Outs Above Average, his range and arm have declined, and he's also making inexplicable plays like this one in Wednesday's loss to the Mets.
Not only did he not clearly make the easy play by getting the lead runner at third, he then noodle-armed a throw to first that didn't get Luisangel Acuña out either, thus loading the bases with no outs in a tie game. Again, Boston lost the game 5-1, starting with the rest of that seventh inning. For good measure, he struck out in the bottom of the inning, his second K of what was an 0-for-4 night.
With an OPS now at .603 and rapidly declining toward the .500s, he's simply not the player he used to be. And with Mayer, a Top 10 prospect in baseball, waiting in Triple-A, the Red Sox have to make the call before their hole in the AL East gets too deep.
Trevor Story can't be the Red Sox' everyday shortstop anymore
While Mayer only debuted in Worcester this year, he's performed quite well, currently sitting with a .265/.344/.452/.796 slash line along with eight homers, five doubles, a triple and a team-high 41 RBI. He also has only a 12.3% strikeout rate. While it's not perfect and you'd like to see the OPS a bit higher, he has been somewhat hot or cold and his highs have been every bit what Story can give but with a higher floor.
More importantly, though, the upside of a 22-year-old bat like Mayer's is exponentially greater than Story's right now while the prospect is also simply a better shortstop right now as well. There's quite literally no argument beyond experience to say that Mayer shouldn't be taking Story's place in Boston.
Of course, there's nuance to this conversation. For one, with Kristian Campbell learning first base and potentially moving there, Mayer has been getting starts at second, assumedly to fill that void in Boston's lineup. However, there's actually an easy call here, especially with David Hamilton still in the mix. Story, who is still posting an OPS over .800 this season against lefties, could platoon at short or second with Mayer and Hamilton against left-handed pitchers while the two left-handed bats could get more time.
More than that, Story's leadership is still valuable, which — along with the $64 million still owed — is why he's not going to be DFA'd. But he could also be a utility player and potentially take up some reps at first base as well. And if we're talking about vibes, that's another reason that Mayer could be valuable. He's a young, high-energy player who clearly gives Worcester a shot of life in the dugout and clubhouse. The Red Sox could use that as well, given how tight they've looked at times across their mediocre start.
What's clear beyond a shadow of a doubt, though, is that the Red Sox can't rely on the veteran presence anymore. That's only valuable if someone like Story is actually helping the team. Right now, he's not only not doing that, he's actively a detriment to Boston. That has to change — and fast.