You could say the story surrounding the Rockies shortstop Trevor Story last year was his sophomore slump. After a year where his strikeouts were up and his batting average was down, Story will look to rebound in 2018 at the plate.
But while offensively, the struggles were apparent, defensively, Story dazzled once again. His .982 fielding percentage ranked second in all of the National League, while also recording top-five statistics in the National League in assists, defensive games played, double-plays turned and putouts as a shortstop.
Story loves playing defense, and it shows. In an interview with Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 inside the Rockies’ clubhouse at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Story spoke about how his defense, and how it had to remain a strength, regardless of how he was performing at the plate.
“We take a lot of pride in both of them (offense and defense,) if you don’t get the job done offensively, you have to get it done defensively as a shortstop. I take that very much to heart. I just love playing defense. It’s fun to me.”
“I definitely didn’t perform the way I wanted to, that’s for sure, at the plate,” Story said. “I look for other ways to help the team. I was pretty proud of my defense last year. I learned a lot about myself last year and things that can help me coming into this year.”
Story also spoke about Nolan Arenado, a teammate he holds a locker next to in the Rockies’ clubhouse, and how Arenado helps him grow his game — not only offensively, but defensively, as well.
“Big-time. He’s the best third baseman; to see the kind of work he puts in offensively and defensively. That’s the biggest thing that I’ve got from him,” Story said. “The mentality of how to work and how to play. Those are things that I’ve taken from him. Just having conversations with him and here and there, it’s fun to play with him.”
Sorry – this audio content is no longer available., including what he had to say about his sophomore slump, what he expects for 2018, his defense from 2017 and more, or listen to the podcast below.
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