FORT MYERS, Fla. -- At 33 years old, and in prime shape, Trevor Story is hearing playful taunts of “Unc” from his Red Sox teammates these days.
If this had been a year or two ago, Story might have taken it personally, considering that he was constantly rehabbing from an injury.
But this spring is different. Story, who stayed healthy in 2025 for the first of his four seasons in Boston, feels like the old him -- meaning the player he was in his younger days in Colorado.
“They call me Unc, but I feel great,” said Story. “I feel amazing. I just let them know, ‘You can't let Unc beat you in a foot race,’ and that’s happened.”
Uncle Trevor projects as one of the most important players on the 2026 Red Sox. Gone are fellow 30-somethings Alex Bregman and Rob Refsnyder, who helped him in leading an exciting young core of position players.
Story’s steady play at shortstop is a solidifying factor for the defense, as manager Alex Cora noted multiple times earlier this week that the team always plays cleaner when he is on the field. There is also the speed factor, as Story was successful in 31 of his 32 stolen base attempts last season.
Not only that, but Story’s power bat is something the Sox also need, given that chief baseball officer Craig Breslow opted to build his offseason around run prevention instead of acquiring home run hitters. Last season, Story led the Sox with 25 homers.
“Health is the main thing. That's the golden standard in this game,” Story said. “And if you can repeat that, I think the player is going to come out at some point. I felt good about that, and reset my baseline last year and had the experience that I was looking forward to when I signed here.”
While Cora gave Story some rest early last season as he tried to recapture his timing at the plate, everything changed that last weekend in May. That is when Story came through with a couple of big hits in a three-game series in Atlanta and was a productive force the rest of the season.
From that point on, Cora penciled Story’s name into the lineup so often that the shortstop racked up 157 games, matching a career high set in 2018.
With veteran super-utility player Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the fold, Cora plans on getting Story more rest this season. Perhaps worn down by his first full season in years, Story made six errors in the final nine games of the season.
While that seems like a sound plan by Cora, don’t expect Story to be asking out of the lineup. That’s not the way he leads.
“I understand the question and understand kind of the load management style of it,” said Story. “I still feel as strong as I have at any time in my career. So I think it was really about getting back to that baseline. Getting the 155-plus games has kind of been my goal every single season, and being able to do that means a lot to me, and I think that's why I push so hard in the offseason.
“That's why I continue to push hard in Spring Training. And I think it's a standard to be set for the young guys, too: You don't really take days off. I don't know if that's the old head in me or what, but I think that's a mindset that you have to have in this game because it starts now, and hopefully you're playing into November.”
With the Red Sox having a rotation that is led by one of the premier aces in the game in Garrett Crochet and has added Sonny Gray and Ranger Suárez to go with solid returnee Brayan Bello, Story hopes they at last make an extended playoff run.
His first three playoff appearances went like this: lost National League Wild Card Game in 2017; swept in NL Division Series in ‘18; lost AL Wild Card Series last year.
“I think we have crazy depth, crazy talent, and I'll put our rotation up against anybody. If you want to win the World Series, you have to have good pitching,” said Story. “And I think that's a constant. That's always going to be the case, and that's a great place to start. That's obviously the strength of our team.”
It goes without saying that the man at shortstop -- provided he stays healthy again -- will also be a big factor.