Article: The Trevor Story Experience Needs To End In Boston

[Alex Mayes]

I’m back with my monthly installment of the “it’s time to DFA Trevor Story” series that I didn’t realize I’d write, but I’m happy to be one of the people leading this charge. At this point, the longer Trevor Story trots out to shortstop and hits anywhere in the lineup proves that the Boston Red Sox are being an unserious franchise. On the last episode of The Talk Sox Podcast, I spoke about how I thought last season’s shoulder injury likely ended his career. He's playing like someone who is clinging to the last remaining hope of being a contributor to a major league organization. 

If we look at the numbers, outside of his woes continuing in two strike counts or when there are runners in scoring position, he comes across as someone who shouldn’t even be sniffing a roster spot anymore. He’s currently slashing .218/.263/.318. He’s sporting a .581 OPS, a 59 wRC+, and -0.3 WAR. I’ll grant that he’s stolen nine bases and that’s helping the team, but that’s a limited benefit given the drawbacks. His offense is putrid. There is absolutely zero confidence that he will come through in any situation when he steps up to the plate. All opposing pitchers have to do is throw him something low and away and he’s going to strike out.

Most of his at bats look non-competitive. If he manages to work a walk, which is rare considering he’s sitting on a 4.4% walk rate, or makes some form of contact, then he may swipe a bag, but his last stolen base come on May 19th. That’s over ten days ago. Since then, he’s totaled four hits in 29 at bats. As of this writing on May 30th, he’s currently hitting .194 and is hitting seventh in the lineup in the first game of the weekend series against the Braves. 

You could maybe excuse the poor offensive performance if he was playing any form of a passable defense. He isn’t. His Baseball Savant chart for 2025 is freezing cold on both sides of the ball.

I thought there was maybe a changing of the guard on May 24 against the Orioles when Alex Cora opted to pinch hit for Story. Cora said he was going to “disconnect him” the following game and gave him the day off. He even hinted that he may get the Monday game against the Brewers off as well, but there he was when the lineup was announced. It seemed to be a harbinger for the series, as the Red Sox were walked-off twice even though Story did contribute a bit offensively. Did that inspire anyone to have confidence in him though?

The Red Sox would be better served to admit Chaim Bloom’s biggest mistake and cut bait with Story. Give me Marcelo Mayer at his natural position and Nick Sogard at third until Alex Bregman is back. Sure, Mayer is a rookie and is still proving himself, but putting him back at shortstop should only make him more comfortable at the big league level. I believe that Mayer’s floor is Story’s ceiling now.

Story is obviously going to opt-in to the rest of his contract—he’d be foolish not to. There’s no scenario where he can be traded unless the front office is willing to eat a huge portion of his remaining deal. Putting him in a bench role just further clogs the infield on the major league roster.

As it stands, Story is playing his way out of Boston. I understand that he’s a veteran presence on a team full of young players and while that is needed, it’s not useful if the person behind the presence can’t even hit his weight and plays rapidly declining defense at shortstop. It’s a tough conversation to have with such a talented player who has such an impressive track record — one who was such an exciting free agent signing — but the truth is Trevor Story needs to be DFA’d sooner than later.

If you’d like to follow my Trevor Story saga, it starts here, then gets a bit deeper here, doesn’t pass the eye test here, and I advocate for him to be benched here. I'd love for him to prove me wrong. There's no reason not to root for Story. But the Red Sox need more contributions from every spot on the roster, and the veteran shortstop isn't living up to his billing anymore.

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[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

2 hours ago, Alex Mayes said:

I’m back with my monthly installment of the “it’s time to DFA Trevor Story” series that I didn’t realize I’d write, but I’m happy to be one of the people leading this charge. At this point, the longer Trevor Story trots out to shortstop and hits anywhere in the lineup proves that the Boston Red Sox are being an unserious franchise. On the last episode of The Talk Sox Podcast, I spoke about how I thought last season’s shoulder injury likely ended his career. He's playing like someone who is clinging to the last remaining hope of being a contributor to a major league organization. 

If we look at the numbers, outside of his woes continuing in two strike counts or when there are runners in scoring position, he comes across as someone who shouldn’t even be sniffing a roster spot anymore. He’s currently slashing .218/.263/.318. He’s sporting a .581 OPS, a 59 wRC+, and -0.3 WAR. I’ll grant that he’s stolen nine bases and that’s helping the team, but that’s a limited benefit given the drawbacks. His offense is putrid. There is absolutely zero confidence that he will come through in any situation when he steps up to the plate. All opposing pitchers have to do is throw him something low and away and he’s going to strike out.

Most of his at bats look non-competitive. If he manages to work a walk, which is rare considering he’s sitting on a 4.4% walk rate, or makes some form of contact, then he may swipe a bag, but his last stolen base come on May 19th. That’s over ten days ago. Since then, he’s totaled four hits in 29 at bats. As of this writing on May 30th, he’s currently hitting .194 and is hitting seventh in the lineup in the first game of the weekend series against the Braves. 

You could maybe excuse the poor offensive performance if he was playing any form of a passable defense. He isn’t. His Baseball Savant chart for 2025 is freezing cold on both sides of the ball.

I thought there was maybe a changing of the guard on May 24 against the Orioles when Alex Cora opted to pinch hit for Story. Cora said he was going to “disconnect him” the following game and gave him the day off. He even hinted that he may get the Monday game against the Brewers off as well, but there he was when the lineup was announced. It seemed to be a harbinger for the series, as the Red Sox were walked-off twice even though Story did contribute a bit offensively. Did that inspire anyone to have confidence in him though?

The Red Sox would be better served to admit Chaim Bloom’s biggest mistake and cut bait with Story. Give me Marcelo Mayer at his natural position and Nick Sogard at third until Alex Bregman is back. Sure, Mayer is a rookie and is still proving himself, but putting him back at shortstop should only make him more comfortable at the big league level. I believe that Mayer’s floor is Story’s ceiling now.

Story is obviously going to opt-in to the rest of his contract—he’d be foolish not to. There’s no scenario where he can be traded unless the front office is willing to eat a huge portion of his remaining deal. Putting him in a bench role just further clogs the infield on the major league roster.

As it stands, Story is playing his way out of Boston. I understand that he’s a veteran presence on a team full of young players and while that is needed, it’s not useful if the person behind the presence can’t even hit his weight and plays rapidly declining defense at shortstop. It’s a tough conversation to have with such a talented player who has such an impressive track record — one who was such an exciting free agent signing — but the truth is Trevor Story needs to be DFA’d sooner than later.

If you’d like to follow my Trevor Story saga, it starts here, then gets a bit deeper here, doesn’t pass the eye test here, and I advocate for him to be benched here. I'd love for him to prove me wrong. There's no reason not to root for Story. But the Red Sox need more contributions from every spot on the roster, and the veteran shortstop isn't living up to his billing anymore.

 

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When I read Lonesome Dove, I didn't want that story to end.

This Story can't end soon enough.

[notin]

2 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

When I read Lonesome Dove, I didn't want that story to end.

I had the same experience with “Go Dog Go”…

[Bellhorn04]

So of course in this 3 game series Story had 7 total bases and 5 RBI.

That's baseball. 

[mvp 78]

15 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

So of course in this 3 game series Story had 7 total bases and 5 RBI.

That's baseball. 

Can we get an @Alex Mayes feature on trading Kristian Campbell so that he can heat up as well? 

[Kimmi]

On 6/1/2025 at 2:30 PM, notin said:

I had the same experience with “Go Dog Go”…

"Go Dog Go" is my favorite.

[Kimmi]

I am still riding the Trevor Story bandwagon.  It's awfully lonely on this ride.

[Alex Mayes]

7 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Can we get an @Alex Mayes feature on trading Kristian Campbell so that he can heat up as well? 

oh man, that would be a tough one to write. Maybe me saying he stinks right now would do it?

[Old Red]

50 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

I am still riding the Trevor Story bandwagon.  It's awfully lonely on this ride.

I’m still rooting for Story to do well. He seems like a nice guy, and a good teammate. He hasn’t worked out liked they hoped, and he’s still got $50M+ left on his contract, so how this all plays out time will tell.

[Nick]

OPS ranking for 170 qualified players.

158 Story (that's with 1.750 OPS last night)

145 Rafaela

139 Campbell

1 1 1  Duran

Not pretty.

[Nick]

1 hour ago, Alex Mayes said:

oh man, that would be a tough one to write. Maybe me saying he stinks right now would do it?

I have never seen anyone pounding the turf as much as him. Can he get the ball airborne?

[Kimmi]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

I’m still rooting for Story to do well. He seems like a nice guy, and a good teammate. He hasn’t worked out liked they hoped, and he’s still got $50M+ left on his contract, so how this all plays out time will tell.

I know his hitting has been abysmal.  I keep hoping for signs, like yesterday's game, that he's coming out of it.  I don't expect him to hit like he did at the beginning of the season, but I certainly think he's capable of producing  significantly better than what he's done for most of May.

[Kimmi]

15 minutes ago, Nick said:

OPS ranking for 170 qualified players.

158 Story (that's with 1.750 OPS last night)

145 Rafaela

139 Campbell

1 1 1  Duran

Not pretty.

Ouch.  Have they become pull happy?

[Nick]

16 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Ouch.  Have they become pull happy?

Duran definitely, Campbell thinks he gets bonus money for every bounce he hits into the infield turf.

I may get upset but I'm always willing to jump back onto the bandwagon. 

[Kimmi]

15 minutes ago, Nick said:

Duran definitely, Campbell thinks he gets bonus money for every bounce he hits into the infield turf.

I may get upset but I'm always willing to jump back onto the bandwagon. 

LOL about Campbell.  He started off so good.  Hopefully, he'll get it back soon.

I understand how upsetting and frustrating it is.  We have too many players scuffling at the same time.  It's hard to win games when you can't score runs.

 

[moonslav59]

Hey, the headline story is Trevor's .714 OPS over the last 2 games!

[Nick]

18 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Hey, the headline story his Trevor's .714 OPS over the last 2 games!

Pretty funny Moon.......

[mvp 78]

14 hours ago, Kimmi said:

Ouch.  Have they become pull happy?

No, it's the opposite if you look at their numbers from what I remember. A lot of weak oppo contact. 

[Bellhorn04]

9 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

No, it's the opposite if you look at their numbers from what I remember. A lot of weak oppo contact. 

Seems obvious there's something horribly wrong with the hitting approach.  Have I mentioned the Dillon Lawson hiring recently?  

 

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Seems obvious there's something horribly wrong with the hitting approach.  Have I mentioned the Dillon Lawson hiring recently?  

70% roster construction 30% coaching maybe

[mvp 78]

I said in the offseason that Campbell AND Anthony needed to be on the Opening Day roster. I know that creates a little log jam, but that's up to Cora to figure out the rotation and go with the hot hand. It would have also moved the Sox out of the worries over Super Two/don't bring Anthony up until a certain point because of ROY voting nonsense. 😔

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

I said in the offseason that Campbell AND Anthony needed to be on the Opening Day roster. I know that creates a little log jam, but that's up to Cora to figure out the rotation and go with the hot hand. It would have also moved the Sox out of the worries over Super Two/don't bring Anthony up until a certain point because of ROY voting nonsense. 😔

Hey, I can say this unequivocally: my nonsense about the utter conspiracy to leave Anthony down is deducted from absolute speculation.