Amid his defensive struggles at shortstop, Red Sox remain confident in Trevor Story
These miscues are totally different from these miscues, Story mentioned, however all of them stemmed from footwork and throwing — which he feels he has straightened out.
He described his desired model at shortstop as “almost freestyle.”
“It’s just being athletic, using my strengths, trying to do that as much as possible. Not trying to make it look a certain way. Just get it done,” Story mentioned. “I feel good. Obviously, errors are no good. So it was a bad first week. But feeling good now.”
That is sweet sufficient for his bosses, who’re standing by him.
“He is who he is. Range-wise, a lot better than last year. Outcome [has been] inconsistent with that. But we like him as the shortstop,” said manager Alex Cora. “He’s our shortstop, and he is been elite all through his profession. You’re going to undergo [bad] stretches. It occurred early in the season for him.”
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow mentioned: “Trevor’s battled through things like this at times. He’s come out of them defensively and at the plate, and it happens quickly pretty. He made some really nice plays defensively [on Tuesday]. . . He’s been a really good player in this league for a really long time. I think when he gets going, it’s also easier for him to emerge as a leader among the group and someone who commands a tone of respect.”
At the outset of the offseason, Breslow was clear: Story would be the Red Sox’ shortstop in 2026. They wouldn’t consider, say, putting Marcelo Mayer at its natural position and moving Story to second.
“When he was on the sphere at shortstop final 12 months, it was very stabilizing. He had an excellent season for us. Could he have had an excellent season for us at second base. Maybe? Probably?” Breslow said. “But also [the immediate, definite decision early in the offseason was meant] to provide some stability and certainty through the offseason, coming into spring training, knowing that we did have to make other decisions around the infield. “It just seemed to make sense.”
For a second time in 13 games, Roman Anthony was not in the starting lineup as part of the Sox’ outfield/DH rotation.
Instead, Jarren Duran played left field and Masataka Yoshida was the DH.
“We’re going to play everybody,” Cora said. “Masa is placing good at-bats. We want him to maintain going. [Duran] did not play a number of video games through the week. This is the rotation. . . Today was [Anthony’s] day.”
Anthony will play the following 5 video games by way of the top of the street journey, Cora famous.
Duran was 0 for 4, dropping his common to .162, whereas Yoshida was 1 for 3 with a run scored.
The Red Sox’ latest former Cardinals, Wilson Contreras and Sonny Grayspent pregame time catching up with former mates on their first journey to St. Louis since being traded through the offseason.
Gray will not pitch this collection, however Contreras was in his normal spot at first base, batting fourth.
He was greeted with a rousing ovation from Cardinals followers in his first at-bat and struck out trying in opposition to St. Louis righthanded starter Dustin Maywho picked up his first win of the season. Contreras wound up going 0 for 4 with two strikeouts.
“It’s good to come to a ballpark where you know that you created a lot of good relationships,” mentioned Contreras, who performed for the Cardinals for 3 years after taking part in in opposition to them for seven seasons with the Cubs. “It’s good to know that everyone’s doing good. The whole family is doing great. They’re having fun. They’re playing good, and it’s good to see them smile. So I’m happy for them, and hopefully we get three good games here.”
Contreras was in the highlight with his new workforce, too. He joined most of his teammates — and Cora — in carrying T-shirts that depicted Contreras as Bowser, the bipedal fire-breathing monster/turtle/kidnapper of Super Mario online game fame. Contreras mentioned Story began calling him Bowser throughout spring coaching.
The Red Sox optioned infielder Anthony Seigler from the 10-day injured record to Triple-A Worcester.
Seigler, acquired from the Brewers in the Caleb Durbin commerce in February, sat out for a lot of spring coaching due to left knee patellar tendinopathy, an harm that first popped up over the offseason. He performed in one rehab recreation with Worcester on Thursday earlier than being formally demoted to that affiliate.
Tim Healey could be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. observe him @timbhealey. Alex Speier could be reached at alex.speier@globe.com. observe him @alexspeier.
