Trevor Story is expected to rejoin the Red Sox on Sunday, a move that puts one of their most important bats back in the middle of a lineup that has spent much of the season patching holes. He had been out since May 16, when a sports hernia sent him to the injured list and surgery followed a week later.
The return matters now because the Red Sox are in New York for the final game of their season series against the New York Yankees and need the roster to hold up under pressure. They lost the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader 9-2 after winning the first game 6-0, leaving them 74-62 and three games behind the Yankees for the top wild-card spot. A win Sunday would not only give the Red Sox the season series, it would also give them home-field advantage in the wild-card round if the two teams finish with the same record.
Story’s numbers show why the Red Sox want him back and why they are moving carefully. He played only 41 games to start the year, hit.206 and posted a.547 OPS, then went through 10 rehab games in which he went 6-for-35 with five singles and a double. Roman Anthony is also on his way to New York after missing time of his own, and the Red Sox confirmed that Anthony Seigler and Mickey Gasper will be optioned to Triple-A Worcester to make room for Story and Anthony.
That is the clean part. The harder part is what comes after the transaction. Story is returning after surgery and limited early-season production, so the Red Sox are not simply adding a healthy star to an empty spot. They are trying to restore an infield and designated hitter mix that worked well enough to keep them afloat while also protecting the rhythm built by the players who filled in. Anthony is coming off a finger injury and went 7-for-25 with two homers and two doubles in eight rehab games, which means the club is sorting out two returns at once, not one.
There is also the question of where the playing time comes from once Story is active. The roster move to send down Seigler and Gasper creates the obvious space, but it does not answer the fuller problem of how the Red Sox keep everyone involved without dulling the production that carried them through the absence. Even after Saturday’s split, Chad Tracy said the club had not finished its roster decisions, and the team will have to finish that work before Sunday’s game in New York. The next move will show whether the Red Sox are simply getting healthier or are ready to change the shape of the lineup at the exact point the standings leave no room to drift.
