Ahead of Friday night's series opener against the Minnesota Twins, the Boston Red Sox gave a major injury update on veteran shortstop Trevor Story. 

Story was placed on the 10-day injured list with a sports hernia on May 16 and sent back to Boston for further evaluation. When discussing the injury, the veteran shortstop said that the injury had been bothering him since spring training, and while he didn't want to let his mind go there, surgery was an option. 

After getting two opinions in the week since he went down, Boston sent their shortstop to Philadelphia for a third opinion, where it was determined that the 33-year-old would require surgery. The team announced that he underwent the procedure on Friday afternoon. Sports hernia surgery typically carries a 6-10 week recovery time, meaning that Story could return just ahead of the trade deadline in late-July.

The hernia marks the latest in an injury-riddled tenure in Boston for the 33-year-old. Since signing with the Red Sox ahead of the 2022 season, Story has played in just 361 games, missing significant time in each of his first three seasons, before his first season of full health in 2025. 

It has been a brutal start to the season for the 33-year-old; he is hitting just .206 with a .547 OPS; his 48 weighted runs created+ (wRC+) ranks the sixth-worst among all qualified hitters in baseball. Now he's slated to miss significant time for the fourth time in five seasons. 

Since Story landed on the injured list six days ago, interim manager Chad Tracy has used a trio of utility men, Andruw Monasterio, Nick Sogard, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa at shortstop. Tracy had been reluctant to use former top prospect Marcelo Mayer at shortstop while Story's status was still up in the air, citing the desire to keep the rookie at one position as he acclimates to playing in the majors. After playing second base exclusively, Mayer was spotted taking grounders at shortstop ahead of Monday's win in Kansas City. Now that Story's injury timeline has been established, Tracy's stance on using the 23-year-old Mayer in his stead figures to soften. 

According to SoxProspects.com, Mayer profiles as a "potential above-average defender at short for the foreseeable future," with a "plus arm, plenty for shortstop. Confident in his arm and able to make all the throws with plenty of zip." 

The Red Sox will open up a three-game series against the Twins on Friday night at Fenway Park. Payton Tolle (2-2, 2.05 ERA) will get the start for Boston, opposite fellow rookie lefty Connor Prielipp (1-2, 2.88 ERA) for Minnesota. First pitch from Fenway Park set for 7:10 p.m. ET. 

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