Trevor Story’s return is coming, but the Boston Red Sox are squeezing every last day out of the decision before they have to make room.
Story, who has been out since May 15 after sports hernia surgery, started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on August 16. The next day, he told reporters, including Chris Cotillo of MassLive, that he could be activated as soon as August 21 for Boston’s series against Rafael Devers and the San Francisco Giants.
That won’t happen just yet. According to Cotillo, Story had a scheduled off day on August 20 and will play at least one more game with the WooSox on Friday evening.
The extra day on rehab does more than slow Story’s comeback. It also postpones a tricky roster call in the Red Sox’s middle infield, where the picture has changed a lot since he last took the field.
Boston was 18-25 then, Caleb Durbin still hadn’t carved out a role and Marcelo Mayer was in the lineup. Since Story went down, several infielders have made real cases for themselves, and someone is going to get squeezed.
Anthony Seigler, Andruw Monasterio and Nick Sogard have all helped in different ways this season. Seigler got the call and caught fire during Boston’s 30-5 stretch, Monasterio has turned into a steady source of doubles and RBI, and Sogard keeps stacking quality at-bats and delivering when the Red Sox need him most.
That makes the eventual cut painful. It gets even more complicated if Story doesn’t hit once he’s back.
Through three rehab games, he’s gone 3-for-? with three singles, two runs, an RBI and two strikeouts.
But his start to the season was rough: a .206/.244/.303 line with 57 strikeouts in 41 games. The glove hasn’t been much better, with below-average marks in defensive runs saved (-2), outs above average (-3) and fielding run value (-2).
Interim manager Chad Tracy has already said Monasterio will get playing time after Story and fellow rehabber Isiah Kiner-Falefa return. That points toward Seigler or Sogard as the likeliest candidates to be optioned when Boston finally activates Story, though the move may not last long. Once rosters expand on September 1, from 26 to 28 players, the infielder sent down could be back in the majors soon after.
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