The one Trevor Story silver lining Red Sox fans can cling to for hope in 2026

The 2026 season is off to a very rough start for the Boston Red Sox. They won just two of their first 10 games (before recovering to win their series against the Brewers), the pitching staff has not lived up to expectations two turns though, and the lineup has been very up and down. Red Sox Nation is getting increasingly frustrated, and they turned their focus onto specific underperforming players.

One of those players is Trevor Story. The Red Sox shortstop has had the roughest start to the season of any of Boston's bats. The righty was hitting a lowly .151 with a .391 OPS. It isn't just the results that are frustrating. Story is chasing pitches out of the zone 49% of the time, he's struck out 34.5% of the time, and has yet to draw a walk.

It didn't take long for Red Sox manager Alex Cora to shake up the lineup. Story slid from second to fifth in the batting order against the Brewers. Early returns have been promising, as Story got one hit and drove in two runs in the first game and had a two-run double in the second.

It has also been rough defensively for Story. He's already committed three errors and is -2 Outs Above Average. There are calls from Red Sox social media personalities to move the veteran to second base and give shortstop to Marcelo Mayer.

If 2025 Red Sox season is any indication, a turnaround is coming for Trevor Story

It's been a frustrating start for the shortstop, but if there is any solace for Red Sox fans regarding Story, it is that they suffered through two months of performances like this in 2025, and Story was able to turn it around.

From the start of 2025 through May 31 (55 games played), Story slashed .219/.263/.330/.593. The shortstop only drove in 23 runs and had just 10 extra-base hits in that span. He figured it out in June, and in his final 101 games played, slashed .290/.335/.494/.829. The then 32-year-old mashed 18 homers and drove in 73. The biggest difference from last season to this one, though, was in Story's first 55 games in 2025, the Sox were able to play .500 ball (28-27 record).

Story isn't the only issue the 2026 Sox are facing, but his struggles have been a headline to an underwhelming product so far. When the rest of the team is going well, the Sox can survive a struggling Trevor Story, but when everything is going badly, he only compounds the problems. It's still very early, but Boston can't keep digging this hole, and they are going to need one of their veterans to help pull them out.