Trevor Story vs. Kris Bryant: Which Injured All-Star Can Truly Make a Comeback?

Trevor Story and Kris Bryant have more in common than just their respective times as a member of the Colorado Rockies. This season, they also have their team’s fanbases wondering when and if the former All-Stars will have any kind of impact on the current trajectories of their teams.

Story and Bryant have spent most of this season on the injured list. However, it isn’t just this season where the duo has had painstaking similarities … and that’s a problem for the Boston Red Sox and Rockies, respectively.

Let’s go back to the offseason before the 2022 campaign. It was that time frame when Story (six years, $140 million) and Bryant (seven years, $182 million) each signed massive deals with their new teams. Both were expected to be fixtures in lineups that needed their power.

However, those hopes have yet to come to fruition because of a rash of injuries suffered by both players.

Over the course of the three seasons since they signed their lucrative contracts, neither Story nor Bryant have played the equivalent of one full season with their new teams.

Bryant’s recent return from yet another stint on the injured list (this time with a back and oblique injury suffered while chasing a foul ball from first base at Dodger Stadium) has given him a slight lead in games played over Story. However, after just 13 games, Bryant landed back on the injured list with another back issue.

Games played, however, is just one of the places where Bryant has topped Story over the last three seasons. When Story has been on the field, he has been productive for the Red Sox (in terms of bWAR). However, with the shortstop on the injured list since early April because of a shoulder fracture, it may hard for Boston fans to remember that.

But memories may come flooding back shortly as Story has been ramping up his baseball activities in recent days. Boston manager Alex Cora recently said he is “fully convinced” Story will be a part of the Red Sox lineup still this season, an interesting development for a team that is in the chase for an American League Wild Card spot.

So what does the near-term future look like for these two former All-Stars?

Let’s take a look at the possibilities.

Trevor Story’s potential impact in Boston is more clear

With his now-expected return, Story could help to firm up what has been a weak point in the Boston lineup this season. Heading into games of August 15, Boston’s shortstops have combined to produce 0.9 bWAR, ranking the team 17^th out of MLB’s 30 clubs.

Ceddanne Rafaela and David Hamilton have taken the majority of at-bats at shortstop in Story’s absence, with Rafaela slashing .263/.296/.413 with 13 home runs and 58 RBI, while Hamilton has produced a .253/.306/.395 slash line with six homers and 24 RBI (plus 30 stolen bases).

However, it is second base where Boston could perhaps benefit the most from Story’s return.

This season, a total of 10 players have manned the position and have done very little as a group, combining to produce minus-2.0 bWAR, tying the Red Sox for last in MLB (along with the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels).

Story’s return could produce a domino effect where Story slots in at shortstop and Hamilton slides over to second base (a position where he has already seen action in 30 games this season) while Rafaela could also play second or move to center field (where he has played in 72 games this year). Rafaela could create a platoon with Jarren Duran if Cora plans to use him in center field.

If this domino effect were to occur, in theory, the Red Sox could get a potential boost at three different positions with Story back in the lineup.

Of course, that boost will be dependent on what Story does when he returns.

In 546 at-bats in a Red Sox uniform, Story is slashing .227/.288/.394 for an OPS+ of 86, so he is certainly nowhere near what he was producing during his six seasons with the Rockies (.272/.340/.523 for an OPS+ of 112).

However, at age 31, there is plenty of reason to believe that Story can return to form.

Kris Bryant’s potential impact in Colorado is cloudy at best

While Story’s injuries have cost him larger chunks of games (such as the 100-plus missed this season after undergoing left shoulder surgery), Bryant has gone on the injured list three times in 2024 and nine times overall since becoming a member of the Rockies before the 2022 campaign.

Bryant’s back issues have become an issue for the former National League MVP, admitting in early May that his facet joints (the connections between the bones of the spine) are “severely arthritic” and the disks in his back “are pretty much dried up.”

Those are dire words, and certainly troubling considering Bryant still has four seasons left on the deal that shocked many in baseball.

Unfortunately for the Rockies, even when Bryant has been healthy, he has not produced in the way that Colorado general manager Bill Schmidt envisioned when he referred to him early in his Rockies tenure as the team’s “aircraft carrier.”

Bryant has compiled minus-1.3 bWAR and an OPS+ of 90 in his 159 games with Colorado. Of his 148 hits with the Rockies, only 44 have gone for extra bases. Despite the spacious Coors Field outfield, Bryant has become a singles machine.

Now, knowing Bryant’s health, the Rockies are faced with a dilemma. Should he be the team’s full-time designated hitter, keeping him off the field and potentially away from opportunities to be injured? If they do, can Bryant actually produce the way a designated hitter in Colorado should?

Colorado’s potential 2025 outfield of Jordan Beck, Brenton Doyle and Nolan Jones is young and seen as a big part of the future of the franchise, relegating Bryant to a fourth outfielder spot at best.

At first base, Michael Toglia has shown this season he can provide solid defense and power (with 19 home runs, tied for second on the team despite just 261 at-bats this season), so Bryant would likely be forced into a platoon situation there if the Rockies were to move him back to the infield.

There are many more questions than answers when it comes to Bryant and his potential to still be a difference-maker in Colorado. That’s tough for a team that seems focused on its youth movement as its way back to postseason contention.

In the end, Story’s future may be much brighter in Boston than Bryant’s in Colorado. However, both players will need to stay healthy for extended periods of time for that debate to truly be settled.