Cruel injury reports: The Boston Red Sox struggle and win their match with the Seattle Mariners, but their most talented player is down due to a left shoulder injury.
ANAHEIM, California: During Friday’s game against the Angels, shortstop Trevor Story sustained a possibly serious injury to his left shoulder.
Mike Trout tore a powerful groundball to the left side of the Red Sox infield with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning. Story produced a brilliant play to dive backhand capture the ball, but as soon as he struck the turf slightly outside the infield with his right arm fully extended across his body, he began to writhe in agony, kicking his legs and clutching his left shoulder while colleagues flinched.
Trainer Brandon Henry and Red Sox manager Alex Cora dashed to see how Story was doing right away. He got to his feet on his own after two minutes, but he went quickly off the field and directly to the clubhouse with his left arm trapped to his side.
It hurts. Kind of landed with the entire weight of the body on that shoulder. Following the Red Sox’s 8-6 victory over the Angels, he remarked, “It doesn’t feel good,” in the clubhouse.
Story strolled over the infield looking dejected and shaking his head a lot. Pablo Reyes briefly took his place.
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On Saturday, he will get an MRI, and until that test is completed, Story and the Sox won’t make any more diagnoses other than “left shoulder pain.” Nevertheless, despite having some restricted range of motion in his left arm, Story showed signs of emotion as he attempted to articulate the emotions brought on by an injury that kept him out of large portions of his first two Red Sox seasons.
Man, this is frustrating. Numerous feelings,” Story remarked. “There’s a lot of frustration, but we’re not sure how bad it is yet.”
After undergoing elbow surgery in 2023, Story’s batting average was.241/.313/.345 going into Friday’s game. However, he demonstrated his ability to reach fastballs with velocity in a way that was before unattainable. Additionally, he had played excellent defense, as was demonstrated early in the game with a brilliant play to his left that converted a possible hit up the middle into an athletic 6-3 putout.
It’s awful. When you see him there, in pain and everything, you can’t help but think about everything he accomplished to get to this position throughout the offseason. He’s a guy who, in a very subtle way, has emerged as our team’s leader and taken responsibility for the goals we have set,” Cora remarked. “This kid has certainly made the playoffs and posted more than 150 games by doing everything right and within his power. Although it was difficult to go out there, hopefully we can still do it.
In the visitors clubhouse, Liam Hendriks had balloons and gold streamers hanging from his locker. Adjacent to it stood what seemed to be an enormous jar of the Australian delicacy, Vegemite. When examined more closely, the Vegemite turned out to be a fondant cake design honoring a significant achievement in Hendriks’s career.
“I had no idea that only 6% of major league players ever reach this level. It’s unique, particularly in the modern day when a team has much more flexibility. Although he made his big league debut in 2011, Hendriks noted that it hasn’t been the simplest of trips. “It took me four years [of bouncing between the major leagues and minor leagues] to earn my first year of service time, and I had to wait a few more months in 2018 to be [awarded the A’s designation for assignment].” Thus, it has taken me fourteen years to reach this stage.
After being designated for assignment by the A’s, Liam Hendriks overcame it to be an All-Star three times—once for Oakland and twice for the Chicago White Sox.
After being designated for assignment by the A’s, Liam Hendriks overcame it to be an All-Star three times—once for Oakland and twice for the Chicago White Sox.Marcio Jose Sanchez via the Associated Press
Hendriks saw imperfections in the celebration’s surroundings, of course. He wasn’t at the park on Thursday to celebrate his official 10-year anniversary since he is recovering from Tommy John surgery and is currently on the 60-day disabled list. Despite this, the 35-year-old is happy with his rehabilitation’s advancement as he prepares to make a comeback this season.
“My goal is to push the boundaries in order to advance. They’re attempting to slow me down a little. We’re going to meet halfway,” Hendriks declared. “Everything is moving in the appropriate way. And the most important thing is that I’ve been recuperating pretty well.”
updates on injuries
Both outfielder Rob Refsnyder (broken toe) and second baseman Vaughn Grissom (groin), who both stayed at the team’s Fort Myers, Florida, facility to start the season while recovering from injuries, have a continuous text chain with Cora.
Cora laughed, “Ref said that Vaughn is hitting the ball harder than anybody in camp, and then Vaughn said that Ref is dominating rookie ball pitchers over there in live [batting practice].”
The Sox have hope. Soon, Grissom and Refsnyder will put their abilities to the test against players who are primarily assigned to rookie ball rather than more experienced opponents. On Tuesday, when they are expected to be in Boston for the home opener, they will undergo another evaluation to see whether they are prepared for rehab assignments.
Participating
The Red Sox had the lowest ERA of any Sox team through seven games in the Live Ball Era (1920–present) going into the first game of the series, 1.54 in the major leagues. They also had eight steals going into Friday, tied for third place in the American League, while giving up just one theft, tied for the fewest in the AL. The Angels’ 2024 home opener was held on Friday. As part of the celebrations, players in uniform and alumni (including Tori Hunter and Tim Salmon) entered the ballpark by walking down a red carpet encircled by fans. Tyler Murray, a native of Medfield who does play-by-play for Triple A Worcester, made his big league debut in the WEEI booth. He is carrying on the illustrious tradition of the PawSox/WooSox broadcast pipeline. Rain or weather, there will be an open house at Fenway Park on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with access to various areas of the ballpark, autographs from former players, and a collection of items honoring Tim Wakefield.
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