Trevor Story's Red Sox Career Not Off To A Great Start
BOSTON (CBS) -- Trevor Story's Red Sox career has not gotten off to a great start. On Thursday, he heard it from the Fenway Faithful when he struck out for the fourth time in Boston's 8-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels.
The boo birds were out for Story when he capped off his Golden Sombrero in the bottom of the seventh, going down swinging on six pitches to end the inning. The Red Sox had a runner on and two outs in a 2-0 game when Story whiffed on a four-seam fastball.
There were a smattered of boos when he struck out on four pitches in the fifth, but they grew much, much louder when he ended the seventh. Story was none too pleased with himself either, throwing his bat in disgust after the punch-out.
Story was 0-for-4 in Thursday's loss, dropping his average to .210 on the season. Shohei Ohtani got him swinging on seven pitches to lead off the game, and then fanned him on three pitches in the third, sitting Story down on a 97 MPH heater. Story's fifth-inning whiff came with a runner on second in a scoreless game.
Boston's big offseason signing has now struck out 25 times in his 20 games with his new team, and he has yet to hit a homer. Red Sox manager Alex Cora understands the crowd's reaction on Thursday, but went to bat for Story's work ethic after the loss.
"Expectations here are what they are. What the fans expect are the same things he expects. That's part of the equation," said Cora.
"He's working hard. Very structured, always competing. He's working at it," Cora added. "Since Day 1 the work ethic, the way he goes about it, it hasn't changed."
That was on display after the game, as Story went on a marathon session in the batting cage after the loss. He was joined by Boston hitting coach Pete Fatse, along with J.D. Martinez and Alex Verdugo, according to The Boston Globe. Martinez, who had some struggles to start his Red Sox career, has faith that Boston's $140-million man will turn things around soon.
"Trevor's a professional. He's a proven All-Star. My first month here, I think I was hitting like .200 and then I turned it on," said Martinez. (J.D. was hitting .200 after his first five games with Boston, but finished April with a .337 average.)
"I'm not putting anything past him," he said. "He's a great player. He's proven himself for a while now. I always like to measure guys at the end of the year, not after a month."
For his career, Story does usually take some time to find his swing. March and April are his worst months, slashing .240/.315/.480 over those two months. He tends to find his power in May, and his average starts to jump up by June. And his big collection of strikeouts are nothing new, with Story averaging 188 whiffs over 162 games for his career.
He could easily turn those Fenway jeers into cheers with a dinger, but this is the longest that it's taken Story to go yard in any of his seven MLB seasons. If his power doesn't show up soon -- and the strikeouts keep piling up -- Boston fans will get even more restless with the team's new second baseman.
