It can happen to a baseball player at just about any time. Something so routine, something you do dozens, even a hundred times a day, something you’ve done hundreds of thousands of times in your life and quite suddenly … you can just forget. Infielders are subject to the throwing “yips” every now and then, and the hope always is that they can put them aside quickly and painlessly. Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story finds himself dealing with a rather sudden case of the yips, and it’s not a quick one.
How painful it will be remains to be seen. But with October looming this is … not ideal.
Story has made a career-high 19 errors this season, and lately, he’s just had an issue throwing over to first base. In Thursday night’s fateful six-run sixth inning, Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero started the inning by reaching on a poor throw from Story to first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. It was his sixth error in the last seven games, and his career-high (and AL-high) 19th of the season.
Trevor Story ‘Not Finishing the Play’ on His Throws
Story is not happy about the situation, obviously. He is normally a very good shortstop, and leads baseball in assists and double plays. He had 14 errors once, back in 2021, but to start his career, he committed only 42 errors in 538 games.
“I think just, not finishing the play,” Story said. “I think that’s it. Late in the season, you know, I think your body can get tired, but that’s no excuse. It’s really just not finishing the play. So, it’s on me. I gotta be obviously very diligent about finishing the throw, and I haven’t done that. That’s where it’s come from.”
Trevor Story Maintaining Aggressive Style for Red Sox
Story said the persistent shoulder problems he has had in the past are not driving his current throwing issues. He said it is not the first case of the yips he has had, and his goal is to keep playing his position with aggression.
“You obviously don’t want to make those types of errors, they lead to big innings,” Story said. “So, yeah I think like I always have—there’s been times when this has happened and you just have to be aggressive. That’s the way I play shortstop. When I don’t, things like that happen.”
Red Sox Weathering Fielding Storm
The good news for Story and the Red Sox is that his errors have not been costly. The 6-1 loss on Thursday was just the fourth time in the 16 games in which Story has made an error that the Red Sox lost. Obviously, his turnaround–the first time he has been healthy in his four Red Sox seasons–has been critical to the success of this year.
Story is batting .267 on the year, with 25 homers and 96 RBI.
Problem is, the team certainly does not want to find out how many errors it will take for Story’s yips to be truly costly. The Red Sox only need one more win to secure a playoff spot as they gear up for a weekend series against a now-desperate Tigers opponent
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