Inside The Red Sox

Red Sox Designate Veteran For Assignment To Create Room For Trevor Story's Return

Boston gets an impact player back for the stretch run

Scott Neville

Red Sox Designate Veteran For Assignment To Create Room For Trevor Story's Return
Red Sox Designate Veteran For Assignment To Create Room For Trevor Story's Return /
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The Boston Red Sox are on the fringe of playoff contention and could desperately use all the reinforcements they've been promised down the stretch. Fortunately, a notable upgrade arrived on Tuesday.

The Red Sox are set to activate shortstop Trevor Story from the injured list and, as expected, are designating utility man Yu Chang for assignment. Chang's locker has been cleared out according to MassLive's Chris Cotillo.

Story hit .238 with 38 extra-base hits including 16 home runs, 66 RBIs and a .737 OPS in 94 games last season to begin his Red Sox career. The 30-year-old also played Gold-Glove caliber defense at second base and made an impact on the basepaths, swiping 13 bags without getting caught stealing.

The two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger spent more time than usual getting back up to speed but appears to be ready to do some damage. Story hit .300 (12-for-40) with eight extra-base hits including four home runs, nine RBIs and a 1.117 OPS in his 13 rehab games between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Worcester. He also looked sharp in his transition back to shortstop.

As for Chang, he was incredibly important defensively. The 27-year-old replaced Kiké Hernández as the primary shortstop upon return from the injured list and was a massive improvement. That said, he also hit .162 with extra-base hits including six home runs, 18 RBIs and a .552 OPS in 39 games. His 44 OPS+ implies that he was not even half as good as a league-average hitter.

Chang was one of a plethora of underwhelming options the Red Sox had all season long up the middle. The hope is that Story and Luis Urías can steady the ship.

More MLB: Red Sox's Pablo Reyes Did Something Never Done Before In MLB History

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Scott Neville
SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer.  His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu

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