The Boston Red Sox benched Trevor Story for the second time in seven games Sunday vs. Houston. The announcement in the lineup posted by new interim manager Chad Tracy came as a surprise. The slumping Story played in every one of the 27 games managed this season by the now-fired Alex Cora.
The decision arrived one day after a viral moment in which center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela visibly threw up his hands in frustration after Story failed to apply a tag during a four-run Houston rally. After Story started 27 straight games under Alex Cora, despite a brutal slump that saw the 11-year veteran with just a .533 OPS in that span, new skipper Chad Tracy has now benched the veteran shortstop twice in one week, a sharp shift that could signal a larger change in Boston’s handling of the struggling and seemingly disgruntled 33-year-old.
Trevor Story Benched After Rafaela Confrontation
Story’s first benching came in Tracy’s first game as interim manager, after the veteran shortstop was openly critical of how chief of baseball operations Craig Breslow handled the Cora firing.
Saturday’s fourth inning set the scene for Sunday’s lineup decision. With nobody out and a runner on first, Rafaela tracked down Jose Altuve’s double off the center field wall and uncorked a strong, accurate throw that reached second base on one bounce, according to a report by Jackson Roberts of Sports Illustrated.
Story had set up a few feet in front of the bag, angled toward the outfield, leaving him unable to get a glove on Altuve. Rafaela’s frustration was immediate and on camera.
Story attempted to defuse the situation postgame without throwing his teammate under the bus.
“We’ll keep it between us,” Story told Christopher Smith of MassLive. “We’ll keep it between us and that’s what I think good teams do. We’ll handle it.”
When pressed on whether the Red Sox needed to project better composure, Story defended the emotion on display.
“There’s a human aspect to it and there’s an emotion side to this game,” he said, as quoted by Smith. “You’re not going to catch me talking bad about any of my teammates.”
Why Story would “talk bad” about Rafaela was not clear. Rafaela’s throw was on the money. It was Story who was out of position to make the play.
The moment came during a 6-3 defeat that dropped Boston to 13-20. Story delivered an RBI single in the seventh to chip at the deficit, but he had squandered an earlier chance, popping out to end the fifth inning with the bases full.
@talkinbaseball_ Ceddanne Rafaela appeared to be annoyed that Trevor Story did not make more of an effort to tag Jose Altuve out at second base
Story’s Slump and Boston’s Season-Long Frustrations
Sunday’s lineup, as posted by Tim Healey of The Boston Globe on X, sees Andruw Monasterio batting fifth at shortstop, with Story absent from the starting nine entirely.
The numbers explain Tracy’s decision. Through 32 games in 2026, Story is slashing .208/.245/.300 with a .545 OPS. That tracks almost precisely with his dismal start to the 2025 season — and the parallel is not lost on close observers of this club.
Danny McDaniel of Beyond the Monster laid out the data in stark terms. In Boston’s wins last season, Story posted an OPS approaching 1.000. In losses, that number cratered to .403, a nearly 600-point gap. In the club’s eight losses through the first 12 games of 2026, Story was largely absent offensively, batting .108 with two RBI across those contests.
“There’s a phrase in baseball that gets thrown around loosely — ‘so goes the (fill in the blank), so goes the team,’” McDaniel wrote. “With Trevor Story and the Boston Red Sox, that’s exactly what has happened. The data doesn’t just suggest a correlation. It screams one.”
The Rafaela confrontation, the benching, and a 13-20 mark with Story hitting .208 have put the 33-year-old at the center of a conversation the Red Sox can no longer avoid. Story said he expects to rediscover the form that carried Boston through the summer of 2025.
“I just haven’t found the rhythm on a consistent basis that I’m looking for,” Story admitted, per MassLive. “I’m confident that I’ll get it rolling like I did last year.”
Whether Tracy gives him the opportunity to do it as a starter, or continues managing Story’s at-bats from the bench, may define how the next chapter of Boston’s troubled season unfolds.
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