He threw two balls into the monster seats and one into the front row over the center field wall.
“It wasn’t too much effort and it was a big deal for me to know that I managed to do it anyway,” he said.
Only four months ago, Story had accepted that the shoulder injury he suffered in a dive against the Los Angeles Angels in April would end his season, but since then he has been working on a comeback that now seems well within reach.
“It feels close, so I’m happy about it,” Story said. “My body is responding well, so I just need to get myself in baseball shape.”
Coach of the Red Sox Alex Cora said it was a significant sign to see Story at batting practice.
“It means a lot to me that he’s on the field,” Cora said. “From that day in Anaheim to today, it’s been incredible, to be honest.”
After his injury, Story spent most of the season rehabbing in Los Angeles, and Cora said spending that time away from the team proved to be a wise decision.
“The fact that he wasn’t on the team helped in some ways,” Cora said. “Instead of being in the thick of it, he just focused on himself – he was selfish in a good way. Like, let me handle this. He turned things around and it’s good.”
Cora said it wasn’t until the Sox traveled to Colorado after the All-Star break that he really began to believe Story could actually play this season.
“He caught me off guard,” Cora said. “We started talking and he said, ‘I’m doing this, I’m doing this. I’m going to hit the field today and there’s a chance I’ll be ready.'”
There are still checkpoints along the way for Story. For now, the plan is to continue to do regular batting practice, then test some higher speeds with a pitching machine and also throw some simulated looks with the Trajekt Arc projection system.
However, with just over 40 games left this season, Story already sees the road to his return ahead of him.
“We’re not talking about this weekend, right,” Cora said. “But it feels a lot closer now than it did four or five months ago.”
Gasper comes in style
Cora joked about the moment Mickey Gasper entered the Sox locker room on Monday after being called up from Triple A Worcester.
“I’ve never seen a player dressed as smartly as him,” Cora said. “Sports jacket and everything. I just thought, ‘Where have you been?'”
Cora thought Gasper came from a special place.
“He said, ‘In the apartment,'” Cora recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh, good for you.'”
Born in New Hampshire and attending Bryant University in Rhode Island, Gasper was drafted by the Yankees in the 27th round in 2018. The Sox drafted him in the first round of the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft in December, and Cora viewed the pick as “proof that the organization recognizes talent.”
In 40 games with Worcester this season, Gasper has a .402 batting average (55-of-137) with a 1.179 OPS, 12 doubles, 8 home runs and 32 RBIs. Among all minor league players with over 300 at-bats, Gasper ranks fifth in average, first in OBP and second in OPS.
“All kidding aside, the at-bats are real,” Cora said. “We’ve talked about the gap between the big leagues and Triple A – it’s really big talent-wise – but there comes a point where he does that over and over again, a month, a month and a half, two months, and you think, ‘The at-bats are good.'”
The Sox made several changes to their roster on Monday.
Left-handed James Paxton was placed on the 15-day injured list after straining his right calf while covering first base in the first inning against the Astros on Sunday. Paxton underwent an MRI this morning and met with a doctor before Monday’s game to discuss the results.
“He’s in pain,” Cora said. “He’s obviously not moving well. So we’ll see what happens.”
Left-handed Bailey Horn was recalled from Triple A Worcester. Right-handed Brayan Bello was removed from the paternity leave list. Right-handed Chase Shugart was selected from Worcester.
Now left-handed Brennan Bernardino and right-handed Brad Keller were sent to Worcester, and infielder/outfielder Jamie Westbrook was determined for assignment.
“We have to refocus – we have to,” Cora said. “Obviously (Bernardino) was a big part of what we wanted to accomplish. He struggled, but he’s still a part of it.”
“But with Paxton’s injury, the bullpen day on Saturday … it’s one of those situations where we have to be very patient today and maybe tomorrow and refocus and then go from there.”
Casas makes a cameo appearance
Tristan Casas was in the clubhouse for a check-up and had an exchange with Cora, who encouraged the manager that the first baseman had recovered from a rib injury he sustained in April.
“He said something about hitting the ball hard and that it bothered him,” Cora said. “I said, ‘Well, we want you to hit the ball hard, right?’ But he said, ‘No, no, no, I mean, I’m getting used to it.’
“The check swing, hitting the ball at the end, getting stuck, swinging and missing, everything is good. Now it’s that hurdle of hitting the ball hard and feeling good.”
Casas is eligible to come off the injured list next week, and Cora said he has checked off many of the boxes since beginning his rehab program in Worcester on July 30 — good movement, good fielding, good running. Casas had hit 5-for-30 in eight games through Monday night. He will return to Worcester tomorrow.
“He feels like the at-bats are much better than they were a week ago,” Cora said.
Julian Benbow can be reached at [email protected].
