MLB Notebook: Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story’s comeback season filled with personal milestones, Garrett Crochet’s dominance reigns, and a look around the league

Red Sox fans have long criticized Trevor Story for his inability to stay on the field. Since signing a six-year, $140-million deal with Boston, Story has faced numerous unfortunate injuries.

This year has been a completely different story, pun-intended. He is having an exceptional comeback campaign, seemingly putting all of those injury-plagued seasons behind him. The Sox’ shortstop is a prime candidate for the American League Comeback Player of the Year award.

On Saturday afternoon in the Bronx, Story was an asset in the Red Sox’ lineup, going 3-for-5, hitting a home run, and knocking in a game-high three RBI. With his solo shot in the fifth inning, Story officially became a member of the 20-20 club, 20 home runs and 20 steals in a season. It’s his first time reaching that mark since 2021, and his first time with Boston.

Only two other Red Sox shortstops in team history have had 20/20 seasons: Nomar Garciaparra and John Valentin.

“It’s cool, but the best part is doing it with these guys… that’s what means the most to me,” Story said postgame. “We’re not done; we got a lot of work left to do.”

Things are finally back on track for Story, who now has a team-leading 82 RBI and is on pace to achieve his first 100 RBI campaign since 2018, when he was with the Rockies. That season, he had a career year, hitting .291 with 37 homers with and 108 RBI; the only time in his career he’s achieved that feat.

“It’s cool to check that off the list as I come back from all these injuries,” Story told reporters. “I really try to pride myself on trying to be a complete player, and it’s a good mark of it.”

While leading the club with 82 RBI, he also leads the team in steals with 22 (22-for-22). He also has the second most homers on the team, trailing Wilyer Abreu, and trails Jarren Duran for the team lead in hits (127).

At one point this season, Story was abysmal offensively, hitting just .158 with two homers and a .432 OPS in the month of May (25 games). There was conversation about whether he should see a decrease in playing time and find himself riding the pine versus playing every day. Alex Cora stuck with his shortstop, and it’s paid off.

“It’s very gratifying,” said Cora. “I’m very happy for him. He worked so hard in the offseason to get to this point, to be able to post and play at this level. He had a tough month in May, and he turned it around.

“He’s playing elite baseball right now.”

Story’s offensive performance this season has been predicated off his speed and power. 

“Unreal, man,” said ace Garrett Crochet. “Huge leader in the clubhouse, huge presence in the box and the defense, he’s just ‘Steady Eddy’ out there in the field. I think he gives this team everything you could ask him to do.

“I know he dealt with some injuries, but you can never tell it because every play on both sides of the ball is done with a lot of confidence. You couldn’t tell there has been time off.”

Over the first three years in a Red Sox uniform, Story played just 163 games. If he is in the lineup on Sunday night for the series finale with the Yankees, that will be his 127th this season and his 124th start for Boston.

“A lot of it is just settling back in and relearning how to play every single day and the adjustments that come with that, physically and mentally,” said Story. “Just being able to relax, trust myself, and know you don’t have to be perfect out there.”

Story’s speed and power dynamic have been a game-changer for the Red Sox this season, and despite his outstanding play, he’s not satisfied. The Sox are in a pennant race and want to get into October.

“It’s not so much about me,” Story said. “It’s a cool thing to say, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

TORO STICKS AROUND

Abraham Toro is staying with the Red Sox after all.

The corner infielder cleared waivers on Sunday morning and was outrighted to Triple-A Worcester, the team announced.

Toro’s time came to an end effectively after the club signed first baseman Nathaniel Lowe after he was released by the Nationals last week. In 76 games with the Red Sox, he split time at first base and third base, platooning with Romy Gonzalez following Triston Casas’ season-ending knee injury.

Following his big league promotion, the journeyman signed a minor-league deal with Boston over the winter and saw immediate success. He hit .330 with five homers and eight doubles and posted a .928 OPS in 27 games. Since June 13, his performance has imploded, hitting .194 with two homers, five doubles, and 26 strikeouts with a .524 OPS (49 games). In the month of August, Toro had just hit .137 with a .255 slugging percentage.

Toro will head to Worcester and be internal depth if the Sox are in need of a first base/third base option the rest of the way.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

- Crochet's fourth-inning strikeout of Yankees’ Cody Bellinger was his 200th of the season on Saturday afternoon. He quickly joined elite company, becoming the fourth Red Sox pitcher to strike out 200 or more batters in the first 26 games of a season, joining Chris Sale (2017 and 2018), Pedro Martinez (1999, 2000, and 2002) and Roger Clemens (1988).

Crochet also recorded his 500th career strikeout when he punched out José Caballero for the second out of a dominant seventh.

Crochet was dominant against the Yankees, striking out 11 in seven innings of work. In his first season in Boston, the lefty has been everything and possibly more for the Red Sox, and he is a serious candidate to win the American League Cy Young Award.

The southpaw is now 14-5 with a 2.38 ERA with 207 strikeouts and is just two shy of a career high that he set last season, pitching for the lowly White Sox.

“It’s cool,” Crochet said. “I was talking about it with someone yesterday or two days ago. I think that I put a greater weight on innings in my mind. Especially this year, like being able to fully stretch myself out over the course of 162. I feel like that's just a greater representation of what you're able to provide to the team. But it's still cool.”

Boston is now 8-1 against New York this season and could sweep them in four games on Sunday night, further burying the Yankees behind Boston in the AL East and in the AL Wild Card chase.

With his 500th strikeout on Saturday, the 26-year-old became the youngest pitcher to log 500 or more strikeouts with a 2.90 ERA or lower in his first 130 games since Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw did that in 2012.

“That’s why we call him a beast,” catcher Carlos Narvaez said. “We talked about this start three or four days ago. He’s always prepared, and you see the dominance today. I’m so proud of him. It’s a big milestone here for him as a Red Sox pitcher and his whole career, 500 strikeouts.”

Crochet and Tigers' Tarik Skubal will continue to trade statistical blows back and forth for the remainder of the season as each lefty aims to secure the Cy Young crown.

- Red Sox All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman wants to pitch in the postseason.

“That was my main goal when I came here, and I knew it was the team’s main goal as well, to get back to October. So I’m very excited to get back and pitch for the team in the playoffs,” Chapman said through a translator to The Boston Globe’s Pete Abraham.

- Phillies ace Zack Wheeler’s season is officially over. The righty was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome that will require surgery. He is expected to be sidelined for the next six to eight months, the team announced on Saturday.

Wheeler had a follow-up evaluation following a procedure on Monday to remove a blood clot from his upper arm. After getting a second opinion, it was recommended that he undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery in the coming weeks. Philadelphia losing the 35-year-old is a massive blow to their rotation as they push into postseason play. This season, the righty was 10-5 with a 2.71 ERA in 24 starts across 149 2/3 innings with 195 strikeouts that led the National League.

- Paul Skenes is now the favorite to win the National League Cy Young award. The righty is expected to make his pitching debut at Fenway Park this coming weekend when the Red Sox welcome the Pirates to Boston for three games. He tentatively lines up to pitch opposite Dustin May on Friday night. Keep in mind, this is a probable pitching that was on CBS Sports’ website and can change on a dime.

The 23-year-old has evolved into a superstar after he was drafted No.1 overall by the Pirates in the 2023 MLB draft. Skenes followed up his impressive rookie campaign, where he was the National League Rookie of the Year, with an excellent sophomore campaign. Despite holding a 7-9 record in 26 starts, the hard-throwing righty has an eye-popping 2.16 ERA with 174 strikeouts (fifth in the NL) and a 0.96 WHIP, which places him sixth. He barely walks opposing hitters, allowing just 37 free passes this season in 154 innings.

- How good has Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman been this season? First off, if you say, "Who the heck is Hunter Goodman?" let me introduce you to the 25-year-old.

Goodman is not a household name by any means and could be one of those players that has one excellent season and then falls off the face of the earth. This season, he exploded onto the map, hitting .274 with 25 homers, 22 doubles, four triples, 73 RBI, one stolen base, and a .844 OPS.

That was good enough for him to be voted to the 2025 All-Star Team for the first time in his young career.He has a career-high 2.5 WAR after posting a negative WAR over the last two seasons and has a 118 wRC+ in 114 games for the Rockies. In his first two years in the big leagues, Goodman struggled at the plate. In 93 total games, he slashed .192/.233/.409 with a .642 OPS, 14 home runs, 53 RBI and a 66 OPS+.

According to MLB.com, Goodman was named the Rockies’ 2025 Heart & Hustle Award winner. The award is given to players who "exemplify a true passion for the game and who best embody the values, spirit, and tradition of the game."

Of the 25 homers Goodman has belted this season, 10 of them have come at Coors Field. He’s been a slightly better hitter on the road, but his pop at the plate has him emerging as one of the top power bats at the catcher position.

- MLB commissioner Rob Manfred discussed the possibility of adding expansion teams and realignment for the league.

“I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically realign,” Manfred said on Sunday Night Baseball. “I think we could save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel.

“I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN because you'd be playing out of the East and out of the West, and that 10 o'clock, where we sometimes get Boston-Anaheim, would be two West Coast teams. That 10 o'clock slot that's a problem for us sometimes becomes a real opportunity for our West Coast audience."

Whether fans like it or not, realignment and expansion are coming to the sport. The days of the standard divisions we’ve all been accustomed to could be gone. 

Nashville, Salt Lake City, and Portland, Oregon, have been making a hard push for their cities to land a pro baseball team. It makes sense for the league to expand; the sport is growing, and so are other leagues. It would make a little more sense for Manfred and the union to come to terms on a CBA before deciding on adding teams and creating ridiculous new divisions or conferences.

The league needs to avoid a lockout following the 2026 season. The players’ association and fans alike need to scream as loud as they can to let the league know that this is not acceptable. Baseball has finally gotten into a good spot; their social media platforms are highlighting and showcasing its players on and off the field. The Red Sox Netflix documentary offered insight to fans of the daily life of pro athletes, and we need more of that. If baseball wants to grow bigger, fans need to be able to connect and relate with the sport. A lockout derails that.

- Speaking of growing the game, the 2026 MLB schedule will be released on Tuesday, and the Field of Dreams game in Iowa will return with the Phillies and Mets playing in mid-June. The last game was played at the Field of Dreams in 2022 between the Cubs and Reds. The season will start Thursday, March 26, and will also include a return to Mexico City, where the Diamondbacks will play the Padres.

- Longtime Cubs pitcher and now Angels’ starter Kyle Hendricks will make his first start against his former team on Sunday afternoon. Hendricks (6-8, 4.93 ERA), who spent the previous 11 seasons in the Windy City before signing a free-agent deal with Los Angeles in November.

"It's a little different, for sure," Hendricks said about facing his old teammates. "For the Cubs fans, it might be a little shocking, but I'm just still loving life, enjoying what I do. But it's really cool to have the Cubs in town right now. Just excited."

- Former Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel continues to bounce around the league. He signed with the Astros this week after Houston lost Josh Hader.

- Shane Bieber pitched in his first big league game since April 2, 2024, on Friday night, taking on the Marlins. It was also his debut with the Blue Jays, who acquired the righty from the Guardians at the trade deadline in July. The veteran righty picked up right where he left off in Cleveland and dominated the Marlins, en route to a 5-2 victory. Bieber went six innings, allowing one run off two hits with no walks and nine strikeouts. Over the course of his six innings, he tossed 87 pitches (55 for strikes) and registered five groundouts and two flyouts.

His only blemish came in the second inning when he allowed a solo blast to Javier Sanoja. The former Cy Young winner struck out the side in the fourth and didn’t allow a second hit in the game until the sixth inning.

Bieber had been sidelined for the last year-plus after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Prior to joining the first-place Blue Jays’ rotation, he made seven rehab appearances at the minor league level, posting a 1.86 ERA.

He pitched a rehab game at Polar Park against the WooSox the week prior to being activated by Toronto. Bieber faced off against Richard Fitts and was impressive in front of the WooSox’ faithful that packed out the ballpark. He went 5 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with one walk and six strikeouts. 

Bieber was the second Cy Young pitcher that the Blue Jays had rehabbing in the minors this season. Max Scherzer also pitched a rehab outing in Worcester this season.

- It’s been over-communicated this week that after the Orioles signed their young 21-year-old catcher, Samuel Basallo, to an eight-year contract extension that runs through the 2033 season and includes a team option for '34, he could have signed with the Yankees as a teenager. 

His new deal is worth $67 million and includes escalators based on awards and playing time at catcher that could bump it to a max of $88.5 million.

Basallo’s deal ultimately closes the door on Adley Rutschman’s future in Baltimore. Bob Nightengale of USA Today expects that the Orioles will trade the catcher this offseason. The former All-Star catcher has had a down season, hitting .227/.310/.373, .684 OPS, 9 home runs, 29 RBI, 16 doubles, and 37 runs scored in 208 at-bats.

Initially selected first overall in the 2019 MLB draft by the Orioles, he earned an $8.1 million signing bonus. He was appointed the future face of the Orioles’ franchise. If the O’s move on from him, they’d be trading him when his value was at an all-time low. Baltimore’s front office has made a handful of head-scratcher moves the last few years, so moving Rutschman for a lesser return seemingly feels par for the course.