Boston Red Sox: Trevor Story’s horrible slump is officially over

Trevor Story had a monster performance for the Boston Red Sox

A great story turned into an epic trilogy at Fenway Park. Trevor Story put on an incredible show, smashing three home runs to lead the Boston Red Sox to a victory over the visiting Seattle Mariners.

Seattle jumped out to an early four-run lead but Story cut it in half with a two-run homer in the second inning. He crushed a 94 mph fastball as it crossed over the heart of the plate, sending it 402 feet to center field.

One inning later, Story tied the game with another two-run blast on a low changeup that went 403 feet, clearing the Plymouth Rock sign that stands on top of the Green Monster in left field.

The trifecta was completed in the eighth inning when Story put the game away with a three-run home run 358 feet down the left field line to give the Red Sox a commanding 12-5 lead.

Surprisingly, the shortest of the three home runs had the highest exit velocity, leaving the bat at 106.5 mph, per Baseball Savant. All three of Story’s homers had an exit velocity above 105 mph.

This was the second three-home run game of Story’s career, having previously collected one in 2018 as a member of the Colorado Rockies. He’s the first Red Sox hitter with a three-homer game since J.D. Martinez hit three against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards on April 11 of last season. Story is the first Red Sox hitter with three homers in a game at Fenway Park since Mookie Betts did it against the New York Yankees on July 26, 2019. Betts had a franchise record five three-home run games as a member of the Red Sox.

Story joined Bobby Doerr (1950 vs St. Louis Browns) and Dustin Pedroia (2010 vs Colorado Rockies) as the only Red Sox second basemen with a three-home run game.

Story also added a base hit in the sixth inning and moved into scoring position on a throwing error that allowed a run to score, giving the Red Sox their first lead of the game. He stole third base, his fifth steal of the season, and came around to score on a Jackie Bradley Jr. double.

Story finished his day 4-for-4 with a walk, five runs scored and seven RBI. He had entered the day batting a woeful .205/.293/.320 but following this performance, Story now owns a more respectable .230/.317/.413 slash line. His OPS jumped a whopping 117 points from .613 to .730.

Each of those figures remains well below his career levels but he’s making steady progress to recover from a slow start this season. Story has reached base at least once in nine consecutive games and has at least one hit in three of his last four.

While he has plenty of catching up to do in the batting average department, Story is doing plenty of damage when he does get his hits. He now leads the team with 23 RBI, tied for 10th in the American League. Story is up to five home runs, trailing only Rafael Devers (7) on the Red Sox.

A rough start to the season wasn’t unexpected considering Story was switching leagues, adapting to a new city and carry the weight of his lucrative free-agent contract. Signing late in the offseason and briefly leaving camp for the birth of his child left Story with only about a week of spring training. Nobody should have expected him to hit the ground running under those conditions.

As the weather is heating up, so is the bat of Story. It’s safe to say that he’s found his swing again, putting an end to his season-long slump. We also have sufficient evidence that Story is more than capable of hammering home runs outside of Colorado’s Coors Field. The move to Boston isn’t going to lead to the massive decline many feared after watching him struggle for several weeks. Story simply needed time to catch up.

It wasn’t long ago that Story was getting booed out of the ballpark. Now he’s tipping his cap to a Fenway crowd that is learning to appreciate their new second baseman.