Alex Cora hasn't had the chance to pencil shortstop Trevor Story into the Boston Red Sox lineup since early April.
But Cora will have the opportunity to finally do that Saturday.
The Red Sox manager revealed prior to Friday's series opener against the Chicago White Sox at Fenway Park that the plan is to activate Story off the 60-day injured list Saturday. Story's season looked over when he suffered a shoulder injury and underwent surgery just over a week into the season, but the two-time All-Star fought his way back.
"If he makes it tomorrow here without falling down or doing something, there's a good chance he's going to play shortstop for us tomorrow," Cora told reporters.
Story's comeback has been in the work for a while as he took grounders prior to Red Sox games for a couple of months and he just needed to get squared away at the plate before making it back to the big leagues. The 31-year-old checked off that box during a four-game rehab stint and looked MLB ready when he went 4-for-5 with two RBIs with Triple-A Worcester on Thursday.
Cora said he expects Story to primarily play every day as the Red Sox try to make up ground in the American League wild-card race. Boston entered Friday 5 1/2 games behind the Kansas City Royals for the final playoff spot with 22 games remaining in the regular season.
Story's emotional return could give the Red Sox the jolt they need to go on a run with little time left to do so.
"It's very important not only for us, but for him too just to go out there and play," Cora said. "We have a big weekend here and we have to think big. We'll see where we at Monday. There's a good chance if we take care of business this weekend we should be a lot closer. We'll gain ground, we don't lose ground. That's the way we see this weekend.
"On the personal side, just for him to be out there is huge. He put the work (in), he hasn't hesitated, he had a goal and it's going to happen. And I'm very happy for him."
