Left Side of the Red Sox Infield Has Been Money Well-Spent
The Red Sox have invested a lot of money into Alex Bregman and Trevor Story, and it's paying off both on the field and in the clubhouse.
Red Sox ownership has been heavily criticized in years past for not reinvesting money. Boston is a big market, and the Red Sox should be a perennial contender. Instead, they’ve spent October on the couch for three years in a row.
In 2020, they traded Mookie Betts because they wanted to cut payroll. In 2022, they let Xander Bogaerts walk because they couldn’t reach a deal when they should have the year before. Before you come at me; No, $280 million over 11 years is a gross overpay.
You know what else is gross?
The Red Sox mismanagement ever since 2018.
Even when they did spend money, the contracts would blow up in their face. Chris Sale barely pitched for the club after his extension following ’18 and was traded to the Atlanta Braves last offseason.
It seemed to be headed in that direction for Trevor Story as well, but things are finally falling in place for him. He no longer is under as much pressure as he was in years past, thanks to the addition of Alex Bregman.
Red Sox owner, John Henry, opened up the checkbook in February, bringing Bregman to Boston on a three-year deal worth $40 million annually, with opt outs after each year.
With Story finally healthy, and Bregman being even better than advertised, the Red Sox now boast a left side of the infield full of defensive prowess and most importantly, veteran leadership.
All stats updated prior to games on May 2nd, 2025.
Lack of Leadership
Ever since the departure of Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez, both in December of 2022, the Red Sox have been without a leader in the clubhouse.
Bogaerts was the first person the media would flock to after a gut-wrenching loss.
Bogaerts would post up at his locker after losses and take full accountability—whether he just went 0-for-4 or 4-for-5.
Martinez’s impact was felt more in the dugout and the cages, not to say Bogaerts’ wasn’t, but Martinez was constantly talking hitting. He was a designated hitter, after all. The young guys were always trying to pick his brain, and he was a great mentor.
Since they’ve been gone, the Red Sox haven’t really had that guy, let alone two.
In 2023, you could say Justin Turner, who hit .276 with 23 home runs in his age-38 season, was that guy. The problem was that Turner was only there for one year.
Turner certainly did his best, taking guys like Jarren Duran under his wing, but then he was gone. The Red Sox didn’t have a guy of that caliber for 2024.
Well, they did briefly.
Trevor Story was finally healthy heading into 2024. He was touted to be the defensive savior and bring the veteran leadership the Red Sox needed.
Then, in the eighth game of the season, Story dove for a ground ball in the hole.
He didn’t get up.
Instead, he rolled around in agony, clutching his left shoulder.
Rafael Devers, who had had gone after the ball from his position at third base, immediately put his hands on his head in disbelief. The scope of the Red Sox season had changed in an instant.
They no longer had their shortstop. They no longer had their middle-of-the-order bat. They no longer had their leader.
It was another lost season for the $140 million man.
Story would not return until September, but the Red Sox were all but eliminated from postseason contention by that point. They had yet another second-half collapse, and as much as Story tried, it’s hard to be a leader when you’re not out there on the field every day.
For a team with so much young talent—Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, and Brayan Bello—it’s vital to have a veteran like Story in the lineup, which they unfortunately didn’t have when they needed him most.
Just like last year, Story was healthy entering the new season. In the words of Don Orsillo, the Red Sox former play-by-play broadcaster, after Boston clinched a playoff berth back in 2004, Story was—and is— “hoping for a better fate” in 2025.
So far, he’s had one, but it’s had its ups and down.
Story’s Streaky Start
In March, I wrote about Story’s 2025 outlook. The question I asked then was: “The injuries have to stop at some point, right?”
There aren’t many position players with worse luck health-wise than Story in recent memory, but 2025 might just be the year he finally plays a full season with the Red Sox.
This season, Story escaped April unscathed. He has played in 32 of 33 contests, which is more than he played all of last year and only 11 games shy of his 2023 total. The most he has played in Boston was 94 in 2022.
Through the first full month, Story is slashing .260/.304/.394 with five home runs, to the tune of a 95 wRC+. His highlight so far is his two-homer game against the White Sox in mid-April.
He has certainly been streaky, there is a ton of swing and miss—as well as chase—in his game, which means a lot of strikeouts. He can get spun to death, with high chase rates on sliders (40.5%) and curveballs (45.5%). He’s always had that kind of profile, even dating back to his days in Colorado.
I will admit it’s still early, but Story boasts a career-high 51.7% hard-hit rate. He still has the raw ability to make solid contact, so even when he hits the ball on the ground, he’s able to get singles out of it and use his 90th percentile sprint speed to steal bases.
In that same article, I mentioned: “All he needs to do is be—at minimum—a slightly below league average hitter.” That’s exactly what he’s been doing, and the reason being is because of how good a defender he is, which I touched on as well:
“Over the past two seasons—in just 69 total games—[Story] has recorded 10 defensive runs saved (DRS)… For context, the Gold Glove winners at shortstop last season, Bobby Witt Jr. and Dansby Swanson, had a DRS of 2 and 9, respectively. Keep in mind, DRS is a cumulative stat, and Story had more than both of them in almost 100 less games.”
Thus far, Story hasn’t been great by way of DRS (-1) or OAA (-2), but I expect that to change. He made some errors over a short stretch, but they were plays he usually makes. I expect him to turn it around.
For the most part, he’s been making the routine plays and getting to some tough grounders up the middle. That’s all you can ask for on a team that has had arguably the worst infield defense over the past few years. Just having him out there is a plus, given he already has a 0.6 fWAR.
It’s also a lot to ask for him to be the defensive savior and the leader.
That’s why the Red Sox got Alex Bregman.
Alex Bregman: MVP Candidate?
I knew Alex Bregman was good, but man, this is unreal.
Bregman appears to be the best free agent acquisition through the first month of the season, although Pete Alonso and his 1.124 OPS would like a word. In that case, in terms of a free agent on a new team, it’s Bregman.
Coming over from Houston, Bregman knows what it’s like to win. The Red Sox have only three players on their current roster who were also on the 2021 team that went to the ALCS. Those players are Devers, Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, and Duran. Duran barely played in October.
Bregman is a two-time World Series champion. He has experienced what playoff baseball feels like at Fenway. He knows how to lead a clubhouse. He knows what it takes to win, and he’s doing all that he can to help this team get back to the postseason.
Bregman has been one of the best players in the sport this year. In fact, he is third in the AL in fWAR at 1.6. That trails only the 2024 AL MVP, Aaron Judge, and Bobby Witt Jr., the runner-up.
Bregman has a slash line of .326/.397/.581 with seven home runs. His 174 wRC+ is tied with Jonathan Aranda for the 4th highest in MLB.
He is in the 98th percentile with a 16.5% chase rate and the 91st percentile with a 16.1% whiff rate, which is crucial for a Red Sox team that definitely has some strikeout issues over the past few seasons.
He also hits the ball hard on a very consistent basis, with an average exit velocity and hard-hit rate of 92.9 mph and 50%, respectively.
Bregman is the guy you want up with runners in scoring position. In 40 at-bats with RISP, he is hitting .300 with a .906 OPS and 18 RBI. Eight of his 12 hits in those situations are for extra bases.
Leadership: A Cost Worth Paying
The luxury of having two established veteran major-leaguers on the left side of the infield certainly does not go unnoticed.
Will Middlebrooks, the former Red Sox player who now does color commentary for the Red Sox radio and TV broadcasts, has noted lately that Bregman is always giving advice to the young guys in the dugout in between at-bats.
Bregman is playing at an MVP level while Story has proved he still has plenty left in the tank. Both can certainly put the team on their back any day of the week.
The Red Sox have been prone to the second-half collapse. This season, I trust Bregman and Story’s leadership and play to help the team get through the dreaded month of August which has crippled the Red Sox over the past three years.
The money that the Red Sox invested was certainly a lot, nearly $65 million annually to just two players, but those two players are needed.
If playoff baseball is to return to Fenway Park this October, it is going to be in large part because of Bregman and Story.
Written by
Scotty is an intern for Just Baseball where he covers the Boston Red Sox and other MLB topics. He attends Providence College where he is an…