Trevor Story started 155 games at shortstop for the Red Sox last season, the most since he was a 25-year-old All-Star with the Colorado Rockies in 2018.
“I was pretty proud just to prove it to myself,” said Story, who dealt with a series of injuries after signing with the Sox before the 2022 season. “I knew I could do it. I’ve shown that I could. Doing it post-injury, it was tough.”
Now the Sox need him to do it again this season.
Story’s durability is important as the infield remains unsettled with spring training only a few weeks away. If he can maintain his level of play at shortstop it should help the pieces should fall into place.
If he can’t, it’s a major problem.
The backup shortstop is Marcelo Mayer, a 23-year-old with injury issues of his own who is likely to start at either second base or third base.
Mayer was drafted and developed as a shortstop but has only three innings of major league experience. The Sox also have David Hamilton and Nick Sogard, two role players.
Hamilton has started 67 games at shortstop over three seasons and graded out a touch below average. A bigger issue is that he has hit .222 with a .642 OPS at the highest level and looked overmatched at the plate for much of last season.
Ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the organization by Baseball America, Arias should make it to Triple A this season. But he’s not likely to be a factor at the major league level until 2027.
Kristian Campbell played 36 games at shortstop in the minors but the Sox see the 23-year-old an outfielder or second baseman at this stage of his development.
That puts the onus on Story to stay on the field.
Story’s 1,371 1/3 innings were the seventh most in the majors last season. He had a .778 OPS in the second half but his defense deteriorated down the stretch. Story was charged with seven errors in September after committing 12 over his first 133 games.
“I feel like I put together a solid year last year, minus the last month,” Story said. “I know I have more in me. I know I can finish this season stronger.”
The Sox also will need more from Story off the field with Alex Bregman and Rob Refsnyder having left the team as free agents. Bregman, Refsnyder, and Story wielded a lot of influence in the clubhouse last season.
Outside of Jarren Duran and Connor Wong, who made their major league debuts in 2021, no position player has been with the team longer than Story.
“I think a lot of that develops naturally, the leadership,” he said. “We have guys who will step up.”
As they mentioned in the article he hasn’t really been able to stay healthy and with Mayer, who also has injury history, it’s a dice roll I’d prefer they attempt to have a backup plan for
My fingers are crossed that Story has turned the page with his injuries. That said, I think someone like Hoerner could be a good fit. As I recall, he’s on a shorter deal, so he plugs in well in the short term AND if they believe in Arias longer term, he wouldn’t be blocked by Hoerner. It makes enough sense to me!
I can also presume a shorter term deal would cost less in a trade, but that could be mistaken.
Overall, Craig has been cooking but I feel like the meal isn’t done yet. I’m excited to see what, if anything, he does before spring training.
A big thing about this upcoming season is that it’s the first year in a long time where the Red Sox have some redundancy and could weather a Story injury. In past years, if/when Story got injured then the team was forced to start David Hamilton and Ceddanne Rafaela at SS. Those guys combined to have some of the worst SS production in all of baseball. Now if Story gets injured they can have Mayer fill in as the everyday SS, which is (hopefully) much less of a drop-off in production.
Neither Story or Mayer has been a model of consistent health, so there are still obviously concerns there. But it has been years since I’ve felt the Red Sox could theoretically survive their starting SS going down.
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From [Globe.com](http://Globe.com)
By Peter Abraham
Trevor Story started 155 games at shortstop for the Red Sox last season, the most since he was a 25-year-old All-Star with the Colorado Rockies in 2018.
“I was pretty proud just to prove it to myself,” said Story, who dealt with a series of injuries after signing with the Sox before the 2022 season. “I knew I could do it. I’ve shown that I could. Doing it post-injury, it was tough.”
Now the Sox need him to do it again this season.
Story’s durability is important as the infield remains unsettled with spring training only a few weeks away. If he can maintain his level of play at shortstop it should help the pieces should fall into place.
If he can’t, it’s a major problem.
The backup shortstop is Marcelo Mayer, a 23-year-old with injury issues of his own who is likely to start at either second base or third base.
Mayer was drafted and developed as a shortstop but has only three innings of major league experience. The Sox also have David Hamilton and Nick Sogard, two role players.
Hamilton has started 67 games at shortstop over three seasons and graded out a touch below average. A bigger issue is that he has hit .222 with a .642 OPS at the highest level and looked overmatched at the plate for much of last season.
Franklin Arias, [a 20-year-old two-way talent from Venezuela](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/13/sports/franklin-arias-venezuela-red-sox/?p1=Article_Inline_Text_Link), reached Double A Portland last season and is the shortstop of the future.
Ranked as the No. 2 prospect in the organization by Baseball America, Arias should make it to Triple A this season. But he’s not likely to be a factor at the major league level until 2027.
The Sox also have [former first-round pick Mikey Romero](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/17/sports/sunday-baseball-notes-mikey-romero/?p1=Article_Inline_Text_Link). He was drafted as a shortstop but is more of a corner infielder or utility player at this point.
Kristian Campbell played 36 games at shortstop in the minors but the Sox see the 23-year-old an outfielder or second baseman at this stage of his development.
That puts the onus on Story to stay on the field.
Story’s 1,371 1/3 innings were the seventh most in the majors last season. He had a .778 OPS in the second half but his defense deteriorated down the stretch. Story was charged with seven errors in September after committing 12 over his first 133 games.
“I feel like I put together a solid year last year, minus the last month,” Story said. “I know I have more in me. I know I can finish this season stronger.”
The Sox also will need more from Story off the field with Alex Bregman and Rob Refsnyder having left the team as free agents. Bregman, Refsnyder, and Story wielded a lot of influence in the clubhouse last season.
Outside of Jarren Duran and Connor Wong, who made their major league debuts in 2021, no position player has been with the team longer than Story.
“I think a lot of that develops naturally, the leadership,” he said. “We have guys who will step up.”
As they mentioned in the article he hasn’t really been able to stay healthy and with Mayer, who also has injury history, it’s a dice roll I’d prefer they attempt to have a backup plan for
My fingers are crossed that Story has turned the page with his injuries. That said, I think someone like Hoerner could be a good fit. As I recall, he’s on a shorter deal, so he plugs in well in the short term AND if they believe in Arias longer term, he wouldn’t be blocked by Hoerner. It makes enough sense to me!
I can also presume a shorter term deal would cost less in a trade, but that could be mistaken.
Overall, Craig has been cooking but I feel like the meal isn’t done yet. I’m excited to see what, if anything, he does before spring training.
A big thing about this upcoming season is that it’s the first year in a long time where the Red Sox have some redundancy and could weather a Story injury. In past years, if/when Story got injured then the team was forced to start David Hamilton and Ceddanne Rafaela at SS. Those guys combined to have some of the worst SS production in all of baseball. Now if Story gets injured they can have Mayer fill in as the everyday SS, which is (hopefully) much less of a drop-off in production.
Neither Story or Mayer has been a model of consistent health, so there are still obviously concerns there. But it has been years since I’ve felt the Red Sox could theoretically survive their starting SS going down.