In true 2025 fashion, an error changed the course of the Boston Red Sox's Mother's Day matchup with the Tampa Bay Rays. In the third inning, a hard grounder off the bat of Chandler Simpson rolled under Trevor Story's glove as he bumbled through an attempted backhand play.
The ball rolled onto the outfield grass and allowed two runs to score. Story wasn't initially credited with an error because Simpson is one of the fastest players in MLB and he likely would've had a hit, regardless. But the scorers eventually came to their senses, awarding Simpson with a hit and sticking Story with an error.
The Rays ended up scoring three of their four runs after Story's error. He addressed reporters after the game and explained how the bounce ate him up. Interim Red Sox manager Chad Tracy also spoke after the game and said that Story's defense "has been great" this season.
Tracy has only been with Boston since April 26, but even he can't get away with calling Story's defense this season "great" (subscription required). The veteran leads the team with five errors (he also led the team last season), he ranks in the 22nd percentile among shortstops with an out below average and he hasn't registered a defensive run saved.
The Red Sox need to do something about Trevor Story's abysmal defense
Not only has Story, once a defense-first player, struggled on the dirt, he also isn't hitting nearly enough to be considered a leader on this Red Sox team. He's slashing .200/.236/.284 with a staggering 55 strikeouts and just seven walks in 38 games. Story's hideous 44.6 percent chase rate is the worst in the league, he ranks in the fourth percentile in strikeout rate and the seventh percentile in walk rate.
Boston hoped to rely on Story as a home run threat this year, since he led the club with 25 homers last year, but he hasn't been able to deliver any significant power with just two home runs so far.
It's not easy for the Red Sox to just play Story less — he's one of the few veterans on the team and one of its highest-paid players, owed over $23 million this season. He's already been absent for so much of his contract due to injuries that the Red Sox have to play him as much as possible to make it worth it.
But if the Red Sox's offense is going to continue to struggle as it has for the first 20 percent of the season, they can't afford to lose games because of errors, especially when they have a better shortstop than Story playing second base directly to his left.
Maybe moving Story to second base and Marcelo Mayer to shortstop (where he always should've been) will help Story focus on getting his bat in the right place. The Red Sox should certainly be getting better production from Story on all sides of the ball based on his experience and pay grade — as much as Tracy tries to put a positive spin on it, five errors and lower-quartile range don't make for "great" defense.
Add us as a preferred source on Google