Trevor Story comes back slugging in first rehab appearance
Trevor Story has completed his first professional appearance of 2023. Rehabbing with the AA Portland Sea Dogs, he played 5 innings of shortstop and went 1-2 with a 3-run home run and a walk. The organization is looking to ease Story back into play, only having him play just over half of the innings in his first taste of action.
His home run landed high over the Maine Monster in left field.
“I felt like a kid out there again, competing,” Story said. “That was what I've been looking forward to for a long time.”
The Red Sox 2022 signee underwent the surgery in December of last year and is making his return from a successful internal bracing procedure of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. The surgery is an alternative to Tommy John Surgery, which is commonplace for someone with an injury to their UCL.
Getting to show off what could be described as his brand-new elbow, he got limited action. Just two groundballs his way, Story was comfortable fielding them.
“[The elbow] feels great,” Story said. “We've been doing a lot of trying to simulate game-like throws and that's my bread and butter, throwing on the run like that. Got two balls like that today to break the ice.”
While the shortstop may have had this time of year marked for a return, Chief Baseball Officer of the Boston Red Sox Chaim Bloom didn’t seem as sure. When he met with the media back in December, he was unwilling to commit to a return date.
“I certainly would not rule out a return sometime during 2023. But it’s also not something at this stage that we want to bank on,” Bloom said. “We want to make sure he’s 100 percent. But certainly with this being the internal brace procedure and not a Tommy John [surgery], it does leave the door open for a return this season.”
While others were unsure, that didn’t stop the shortstop from setting his own goal of returning near the all-star break. He largely attributed the training staff for the progress so far.
“Another step in this whole progression that we have, and it's been seven months since surgery,” Story said. “It's felt really long at times. I feel like now we're kind of to the point where a lot of the fun stuff happens
Story being one of the first stars of his caliber to undergo this surgery, there was not much precedent for when exactly he would make his return. And while he is seemingly mended and building back up to game speed, it is not a typical rehab. Red Sox Manager Alex Cora recently described Story’s rehab as one that is “not a one-week thing.” By rule, a position player can only stay on a rehab assignment for 20 days.
The current plan is for Story to play DH on Saturday and once again play 5 more innings at shortstop on Sunday. Expect more to be revealed on the rest of the plan for his rehab following how the organization feels he recovers from this three-game stretch.
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