Although the Boston Red Sox outfielder believes his team has confounded the doubters by beating the Baltimore Orioles twice of three times this weekend, they can’t turn down a little help.
And that’s what Trevor Story will bring when he returns. According to manager Alex Cora, the shortstop and second baseman is doing well and has started rolling in the infield. Story is progressing well in rehab and will begin launching in two weeks.
The stage of being at the plate and hitting balls will be in a month, sixteen weeks after his elbow surgery. So that brings us to a return to mid-season.
For the moment, it is Kiké Hernandez who takes the place of Story at shortstop to start the campaign, since Chaim Bloom has let Xander Bogaerts go to the San Diego Padres.
When Story returns, Hernandez should return to his first love, center field and second base.
The 2023 season is the second year of Story’s six-year, $140 million deal with the Red Stockings, a deal that has been entirely to the player’s advantage thus far, as he has performed well in below expectations in addition to finding himself more often than not on the injured list.
It remains to be seen if he can justify his salary when he can tread the field on a regular basis.
