The Red Sox have spent the past month looking like the best team in baseball, and they’ve done it while missing some of the veteran pieces you’d normally expect to be in the middle of it all. Garrett Crochet and Trevor Story have both been out at different points, along with others dealing with injuries, which makes Boston’s surge even more interesting.
Story’s status is the one that now opens up a bigger question for the club. There’s a chance he could be back by the end of August, and that gives Boston a short window to figure out exactly what it has in him right now.
“Story may return by the end of the month, giving the Red Sox some runway to figure out the caliber of player he is - the star-level performer from last summer, or the shell of that from early this year, when he was dealing with a sports hernia that required surgery,” Tim Healey wrote.
That matters because Story’s recent track record cuts in two directions. In 2025, he put together a strong season, finishing with a 4.1 bWAR, 25 home runs and 96 RBIs.
At the same time, his 104 OPS+ was below his career standard. Then came a rough stretch in 2026, when he struggled badly over 41 games before the injury talk took over.
Boston now has to weigh whether getting him back is a boost or a complication. The Red Sox have been rolling in the second half, and there’s an argument for leaving a winning group alone. But Story’s resume still carries real weight: two All-Star selections, two Silver Slugger Awards, and years of production that have made him a proven major league bat.
In Other News...
Red Sox Fans Can No Longer Ignore Chad Tracys Case
When the Red Sox made the change from Alex Cora to Chad Tracy in the dugout, it looked like a stopgap move for a team trying to steady itself after a rough start. Instead, it has turned into one of the sharper turnarounds in the American League. Boston has gone 53-34 under Tracy, enough to push the club from early-season frustration into the thick of the playoff race and make the managerial decision feel a lot bigger than a temporary label.
Now the conversation around Tracy is no longer just about getting through the season. There is real speculation that the interim tag could come off if Boston keeps this pace, and his work has even placed him in the mix for Manager of the Year. For a team that needed direction, the bigger question is whether the Red Sox will choose stability and reward the manager who helped change the tone, or keep the situation open a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Now Face One Huge Adley Rutschman Decision
The Red Sox moved quickly to put Adley Rutschman at the center of their future after bringing him in via a major trade, and now the question is whether they go even further. With roughly 1.5 years of team control left, Boston has a chance to explore a long-term extension while Rutschman is still building his case in a Red Sox uniform, and his early return has only strengthened the conversation.
Rutschman has done plenty this season to justify the clubs interest, contributing on both sides of the ball and looking every bit like the kind of catcher who can anchor a contender. The timing matters too, with Boston surely aware of the broader contract landscape for players at his position and the possibility of getting something done before the 2027 lockout shifts the entire negotiating climate. [Read more 🡒]
Payton Tolle Gives Red Sox Fans Another Reason To Believe
Payton Tolle kept giving the Red Sox exactly what they needed at Fenway Park, striking out a career-high 14 batters over six innings in Bostons 13-1 rout of the Athletics. He held Oakland to two hits and one run, and with the offense piling up 15 hits behind him, the night fit neatly into a stretch that has Boston looking increasingly hard to ignore.
The win pushed Tolle to 7-6 and trimmed his ERA to 3.20, but the bigger picture is the one surrounding the clubs nine-game winning streak. Raymond Burgos finished it off with three perfect innings and his first save, another sign that Boston is stacking useful performances in all the right places as the September chase takes shape. [Read more 🡒]