BOSTON — Four hours before first pitch, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora slipped a detail into his daily roundup of injury updates that came as a surprise: Shortstop Trevor Story is scheduled to take batting practice on the field Monday.
While Story has been progressing in recent weeks in his rehab from a broken left shoulder, it marked a significant step forward and one Story and Cora were not anticipating.
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“It’s a huge step,” Cora said. “Where we are at right now, I’m truly believing that he’s gonna be part of this.”
Among the many questions, however, is whether Story’s return will matter as the Red Sox fight for their playoff lives over the next 48 games.
Friday, a 3-1 lead turned into a rough 8-4 loss to the Houston Astros on a night when the Red Sox got a strong start from Tanner Houck only to watch the bullpen let it bleed away. The Red Sox sit 1 1/2 games back of Kansas City for the third wild-card spot in the American League.
In three starts since the break, Houck had surrendered four, three and six earned runs, respectively. Friday, he held Houston to one run on four hits and three walks, striking out one, while inducing 12 ground-ball outs with his signature sinker. In an inning that might have unraveled in previous outings, Houck escaped the fifth inning, leaving the bases loaded after inducing a groundout to short.
“I think I made really good in-game adjustments,” Houck said. “Early on struggled with the command a little bit but ultimately bounced back to make the pitches when I needed to. All in all, a great game to look back and learn from and continue to grow.”
But after a laborious 82 pitches on a damp night, Cora turned to newcomer Lucas Sims, who let the lead slip away. Sims had pitched three scoreless appearances for the Red Sox since joining the team at the trade deadline last week, but Friday was different and carried a bad omen from the get-go with a leadoff triple to Jake Meyers. Two batters later, Jose Altuve blasted a two-run homer to tie the score.
ALTUVE TIES IT UP!!#RELENTLESS pic.twitter.com/2iW8g0v4dz
— Houston Astros (@astros) August 10, 2024
Cora turned to Zack Kelly, but the Astros added two more runs to take the lead before adding another three in the ninth.
“We’ve been talking about this since the trade deadline, right?” Cora said. “We’re getting healthy and we’ve got arms. It didn’t happen today. I’ve always said that’s a fast-break offense (for Houston). When they get going, they get going.”
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The Red Sox rallied in the seventh as Cora sent three pinch hitters to the plate in the span of four batters. A missed call by home plate umpire Mark Carlson led to a Rob Refsnyder strikeout, thwarting one chance. Enmanuel Valdez walked to load the bases for Rafael Devers, but Devers struck out to end the inning.
The Red Sox have shown fight all season and remain within reach of a wild-card spot, but the next 2 1/2 weeks will be crucial to their playoff hopes. Beginning Friday, the Red Sox had 13 of their next 16 games against teams currently in possession of a postseason spot. The three games next week against the Texas Rangers (winners of last year’s World Series) are the exception.
Against that backdrop, Story is in a race against time. When the 31-year-old fractured his non-throwing shoulder in the eighth game of the season in early April, the expectation, given the severity of his surgery, was for a 2025 return.
But Story spent the next three months rehabbing in Southern California at Elite OrthoSport where his surgery was performed and emerged in better shape than expected, joining the team just after the All-Star break for its trip to Los Angeles and then Colorado. He’s been with the club ever since.
Trevor Story interacts with Colorado Rockies fans in late July at Coors Field. (Isaiah J. Downing / USA Today)
“I didn’t expect it to be going this well, to be honest,” Story said Friday. “Just because I know how bad it was early on in the rehab process. But I really think my body turned the corner, and mentally, too. I think it’s my mind trusting my body now more than ever.”
Story said he took swings for the first time in Colorado and realized he felt better than expected, raising the possibility of a late-season return.
“I’ve always hoped for it to be more than a ‘maybe,'” Story said. “I think that it’s kind of a reality now. Over the last two weeks, the swings have been really good. Really no hesitation or hold back in the swing. And I think that’s why we’re feeling optimistic about it.”
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Cora didn’t want to put a timeline on how many BP sessions Story would take or when he might begin a rehab assignment, but he did note that, defensively, Story is ready to go. The buildup is more about his swing with the surgically repaired shoulder.
“I don’t want to put pressure on him, but he’s putting pressure on us, which is the great thing about this,” Cora said.
“We’ve been kind of just working behind the scenes and keeping the expectations low,” Story said. “I think it’s helped us out to where the body has been able to recover and bounce back from the swings in the cage. Like I said all along, if there’s a chance to play, I’m going for it.”
While the news on Story was promising, the Red Sox still have plenty of hurdles to overcome. Triston Casas continues to rehab in Triple-A Worcester, and while he’s hit well over the past week, Cora said the decision is in Casas’ hands on how soon he feels ready to return. Meanwhile, the Red Sox announced Friday that Cooper Criswell, who had been slated to start Saturday in place of Nick Pivetta, was placed on the COVID-IL. Josh Winckowski is now scheduled to make the spot start Saturday.
The team also announced Brayan Bello will be away for a few days for the birth of his child but is expected to be back for his start Monday. To fill the spots of Criswell and Bello, the Red Sox recalled Cam Booser and Brad Keller from Triple-A Worcester.
Cam Booser gave up a Yordan Alvarez double that scored Alex Bregman. (Michael Dwyer / Associated Press)
The moving parts are aplenty as the Red Sox try to make headway in the standings during a tough stretch in the schedule. If they can, Story might offer a late-season boost for meaningful games down the stretch.
(Top photo of Lucas Sims reacting after giving up a two-run home run to Jose Altuve, right: Michael Dwyer / Associated Press)
Jen McCaffrey is a staff writer for The Athletic covering the Boston Red Sox. Prior to joining The Athletic, the Syracuse graduate spent four years as a Red Sox reporter for MassLive.com and three years as a sports reporter for the Cape Cod Times. Follow Jen on Twitter @jcmccaffrey
