The Boston Red Sox are off to an MLB-worst 2-7 start to their season, largely because their offense can't deliver consistently. The Red Sox have struck out 93 times, the sixth-most in the league and have a .297 team OPB, the eighth-worst so far.
On April 6 before Boston's series-opening game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Alex Cora made some much-needed changes to his lineup. The biggest one, which Red Sox fans have called for for days already, is Trevor Story's move down the lineup to the fifth spot, from second.
Before the regular season began, Cora announced that Story would be the No. 2 hitter in his lineup, which immediately raised questions. Yes, the shortstop was the team's home run leader last season, but he strikes out often, to the tune of a 26.9 strikeout percentage last year.
His strikeout troubles have continued into this season, to the point that he has no business hitting near the top of the lineup. Story has struck out 17 times in the first nine games of this season, which works out to a 40.5 strikeout percentage so far. He's posted a hideous .119/.119/.214 slash line as he's struggled.
Alex Cora finally moves struggling, strikeout-addled Trevor Story down in Red Sox lineup, moves Masataka Yoshida up
New series on deck. pic.twitter.com/5GojiIjxd3
— Red Sox (@RedSox) April 6, 2026
Among the other changes in the lineup, Jarren Duran will sit against Brandon Woodruff, Marcelo Mayer has jumped ahead of Caleb Durbin in the order, Masataka Yoshida has rightly been moved to Story's former spot, and Willson Contreras and Wilyer Abreu have been moved up a spot each.
The Red Sox have made inexcusably bad swing decisions so far this season, and Story is no exception. His staggering 50% chase rate ranks in the first percentile, the worst in the league, closely followed by his abysmal third percentile strikeout rate.
Yoshida might be a questionable choice for the No. 2 spot in the lineup in some fans' eyes, but at least he takes walks. His six free passes in seven games tie the best walk rate in the league and rank in the 100th percentile. He also posted a standout three-hit performance against the Padres on April 5. Meanwhile, Story swings at whatever comes his way, whether it's hittable or not — he hasn't walked even once this year so far.
It was high time for Cora to switch things up and move Story down the lineup: just because the Red Sox committed to paying him an obscene amount for his body of work and his status as a veteran shouldn't entitle him to a top spot in the order. When Boston finally reaches the same conclusion on the defensive side and moves Mayer to shortstop where he belongs will be the day it finally takes its commitment to winning seriously.