Story's Red Sox debut set for Saturday

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Trevor Story will get his first game action for the Red Sox on Saturday afternoon, when he’s expected to start a home Grapefruit League game against the Rays.

Excitement has been building in Red Sox camp since Story officially arrived on Wednesday after signing a six-year, $140 million contract.

Given his late arrival to Spring Training, Story, who is switching positions to second base this season, is trying to catch up as quickly as possible. Story worked on double plays with shortstop Xander Bogaerts on Wednesday, and he spent time Thursday getting some at-bats in Minor League games. Story will do more of that on Friday, before he debuts on the main field on Saturday.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora hasn’t decided where Story will hit in the lineup yet, but Kiké Hernández is going to stay in the leadoff spot.

At this point, Cora is keeping his options open for a lineup that should be loaded.

“We have some guys who did their job last year, and the cool thing about this is [Story's] not coming here to carry the offense,” Cora said. “He’s going to be here to be a part of the offense regardless of the contract. That’s something I always tell [chief baseball officer] Chaim [Bloom] when we talk about players. They might hit third or fourth and carry the offense on other teams, but here they don’t have to hit third or fourth.

“We’ve got our core, and they’re really good at what they do, so having another bat, he can be in the middle of the lineup or the top of the lineup and he’s a game-changer. We’ll have an idea later on.”

J.D. to play OF against lefties
At least early in the season, star designated hitter J.D. Martinez will play the outfield against lefties.

Christian Arroyo, Boston’s versatile backup infielder, could get some time in the outfield at some point. But Cora said the Red Sox aren’t rushing into that.

On days Martinez plays the outfield, Jackie Bradley Jr. will likely sit and the right-handed-hitting Arroyo will play somewhere in the infield, as Cora can use it as an opportunity to give Story, Xander Bogaerts or Rafael Devers a day off their feet in the DH role.

Cora will leave it up to Story if he wants to play shortstop on days Bogaerts is out of the lineup or at DH.

One thing Cora isn’t worried about is how much Martinez’s offense slipped when he played the outfield last season, when he had a .222 average and .612 OPS in 36 games.

“No, not at all,” Cora said. “Last year we ran him into the ground, but it was because of where we were roster-wise. We didn’t have too many players at that time and he played a doubleheader and a day game and all that, but no, I’m not worried about that. He knows already that most likely against lefties, he’s going to play a lot of outfield, and there’s not too many lefties in our division.”

JBJ could bunt more
One way Bradley can contribute more on offense is if he can be a successful bunter.

Bradley showed bunt three times in one at-bat on Wednesday and wasn’t successful, but he will stay at it.

“The goal is to get on base,” said Cora. “It’s a good way to put it by [bench coach] Wil [Venable] yesterday -- all these guys want to do damage, but, man, if the third baseman is playing in left field and you put it down, you know what happens? Your on-base percentage goes up. Your average goes up. So that’s a good way to get things going.”

In Bradley’s one season away from the Red Sox in 2021, he had the worst offensive season of his career, slashing .163/.236/.261 with six homers and 29 RBIs.

“We want him to drive the ball to left-center and that’s what he’s trying to do,” said Cora. “We’ll play him against righties. He will play right field against righties. Hopefully he gets locked in and gets going. Everybody knows when he does that for an extended period of time, and it’s fun to watch. Just looking for consistency. That’s the most important thing.

“We know what he can do in the outfield. We know what he can do at the plate. It’s one of those where you turn the page. He was good for this organization the previous year. In 2020 it was a good season for him. He has a good relationship with [hitting coach] Pete [Fatse] and there are a few things we want him to do. So far it has been solid.”