Trevor Story hopes to be back in Red Sox lineup next month as a DH
BOSTON -- Trevor Story is back at Fenway Park to spend the current homestand with the Red Sox as he continues to recover from surgery on his right elbow. He hopes to be back in the Boston lineup next month.
But that return won't happen as a shortstop. Not yet at least. Story is hoping to get his bat back in the lineup as a designated hitter.
"Yeah, [July] is a real possibility for DH," Story told reporters ahead of Monday night's Red Sox loss to the Rockies. "I think that's as early as we've looked at it. That's obviously exciting to me. To be able to just impact the team with my bat is something I feel like I can do, so we'll make that decision soon."
One potential roadblock would be Story using his minor league rehab time as a DH, which wouldn't allow him to get some work in at shortstop before taking the field again. So Story and the Sox will have a decision to make soon if they really want to get his bat back in the lineup before he can return to the diamond.
The 30-year-old was set to make the move from second base to shortstop this season to make up for the free agent departure of Xander Bogaerts, but his injury left Boston scrambling. The Red Sox have struggled to find stability at shortstop in Story's absence, with Kiké Hernández now up to 14 errors on the season at the position. Those 14 miscues by Hernández lead all of baseball.
Story thinks he may be able to start playing shortstop by August. He's currently making throws from 120 feet, and when his body tells him the time is right, he'll stretch out to 130 or 135 feet before expanding his range to 150 feet.
"I think we're kind of listening to my body, and just because it says something on the paper you know, we're not doing it just because it says that. We're being smart about it. If I feel good about progress, we're going to progress," said Story.
"I think the progression is kind of a moving thing based on how I feel," he said. "I feel good about coming back to play shortstop sometime in August. I know that's what I want to do. That's my goal. So that's kind of where I have my head on."