Red Sox to be without Trevor Story for the foreseeable future
As if things haven’t been bad enough for the Red Sox lately, they were dealt another blow today that they can’t afford. Ahead of this afternoon’s clash with the Brewers, Alex Cora informed the media that Trevor Story has a hairline fracture in his wrist and his return has been further delayed. Plenty of teams in the league have been bitten by the injury bug this season but it’s hard to think of any other squad that has been hampered more than Boston.
Story has already had a bit of a rough start to his Red Sox tenure as he has missed time due to injury, and illness, and has had stretches where he just hasn’t performed. I’ll never hold getting sick or getting hurt against a guy, but there are plenty out there that aren’t as nice as I am. MassLive’s Chris Cotillo reported that the second baseman won’t be able to swing a bat for another two weeks.
"“The treatment doesn’t change. It’s kind of like, we treat it the same way we’re doing do right now. Basically, like a strain. The only thing we have to do now is shut him down, swing-wise, for probably a week and a half and then see where we’re at,” Cora said."
This pushes his possible return to late August or even early September, by then the Sox will most likely be out of Postseason reach, especially if they stay on this current trajectory. Again, Story hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire since joining Boston but we have seen a considerable decline in the defense, especially at second base, since his injury. His bat will find its way and we’ve seen that shine through, but his glove has been a massive boost, and not having it has been a massive detriment.
This lineup would benefit from having Trevor back in it as the Sox are lacking in, well, any form of offense. Even if he isn’t crushing the ball like we’d hoped he would just having him in the order alleviates some pressure from guys like J.D. Martinez and Xander Bogaerts. We saw how good he can be when he’s locked in and it’s just a matter of getting him healthy and back into his groove.
Red Sox Nation knows all too well how hampering a wrist injury can be to a player. Both of Boston’s beloved shortstops, Nomar Garciaparra and Bogaerts, each suffered wrist injuries that plagued them for some time. While he’s no longer a shortstop, it feels as if those familiar with the position and wearing that Sox uniform are cursed. From the sounds of things, the team will take a patient approach and won’t be rushing him back too soon.
"“When he starts swinging or whatever, we’ll see how he feels and go from there,” Cora said about Story. “The other stuff, running and all that stuff, he’ll keep doing. But the swing part of it — we were trying to get to where we wanted and he wanted to do the same thing — it wasn’t happening. Now, we’re just going to shut him down.”"
For as great as June was for the Red Sox, July has been the complete opposite. The team was riding high with the top spot in the Wild Card comfortably in hand, as we head into August, it feels like the Postseason is years away. Losing someone the caliber of Trevor Story is never good, but it hurts a little bit more when the rest of the team is either hurt or just not producing. Hopefully, the slow process of his return will allow him to come back stronger than before, and hopefully, it’s not returning to a lost cause.