Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story undergoes surgery, faces extended absence

Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story underwent successful sports hernia surgery Thursday afternoon, the club announced on Friday.

The procedure was performed by renowned core muscle specialist Dr. William Meyers at The Vincera Institute in Philadelphia. Story is expected to miss significant time as he begins his recovery.

While the Red Sox were in Atlanta last weekend, Story acknowledged surgery was a very real possibility and said the preliminary timeline he had been given projected an absence of roughly six to 10 weeks.

The veteran shortstop returned to the Northeast following Sunday’s game and sought a third opinion from Meyers, one of the leading experts in core muscle injuries. That consultation ultimately resulted in the decision to proceed with surgery.

Boston will now move forward without one of its veteran leaders for the foreseeable future as Story begins what he hopes will be a successful recovery and eventual return later this summer.

“I’m trying not to let my mind go there,” Story said last weekend when talking about the prospect of surgery. “It’s obviously different for each guy. But I think the basic prognosis is 6-10 weeks, give or take.

“We’re trying to get the best information, not make a rushed decision,” Story said. “Obviously, surgery is not ideal or wanted, so trying to navigate this thing as best we can with the information that we have.”

The timeline for Story’s return remains fluid, though the surgery is expected to sideline him until at least July and potentially into early August.

The veteran shortstop revealed last weekend that he had been dealing with the sports hernia since spring training, describing a nagging issue in which pain would surface in different areas around his core and groin.

Despite attempting to manage the discomfort throughout the opening weeks of the season, the condition gradually worsened and ultimately reached the point where surgery became the best option.

“(It has been) since spring, really,” he said. “A couple of weeks in, just felt it. Tried to grind through it and just got to the point where I might need to take a timeout and evaluate some things a little further. Obviously, I haven’t been able to really move like myself out there, so it kind of built up on me.

“After a few hard days in a row, it popped up and I just couldn’t kick it after that. It’s been a battle for the first month, month-and-a-half. I hang my hat on being able to play and being available, and obviously, now it’s probably a good time to re-evaluate that.”

With Story once again sidelined, the Red Sox are now faced with a decision that seemed inevitable the moment the veteran shortstop landed on the injured list: Is it finally time to move Marcelo Mayer back to shortstop?

The rookie infielder began taking ground balls at shortstop earlier this week in Kansas City as interim manager Chad Tracy prepared him for the possibility of a position change. The move had been discussed internally but was largely dependent on