Former Red Sox prospect Michael Kopech opens up
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - In the midst of watching the Red Sox try to keep their heads above water in this last gasp for a Wild Card spot, there were a couple of reminders.
First off, we were presented with the importance of Trevor Story, who served as the star for the Red Sox in their 2-1 win over the Rays at Tropicana Field Wednesday night. Story first tied the game with a sixth-inning homer, and then spearheaded the pivotal eighth with a single, stolen base and run scored via Jarren Duran's game-winning single.
"We talk about the athlete," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, whose team moved back to four games in back of the Twins for the final Wild Card spot. "We turned a nice double play, 5-6-3. [Triston] Casas did a good job at first, too. The 3-6-3. The homer, the stolen bases, that’s the player we envision. We’ve just got to keep him on the field."
And then there was Casas.
The first baseman followed up a solid performance at the home of the Rays Tuesday - in which he went deep for his second homer since Aug. 25 - which another solid game. Casas played solid defense while ripping a double, punctuating the night with some unique praise of another player who is trying to find his footing after a long time away - Story.
This was the other reminder: Casas is never going to give you the answer or or explanation you might expect ... as was evident during his appearance with Joe Castiglione and Will Flemming on the WEEI Red Sox Postgame Show.
"Coming down to the wire, the body is a little banged up. But so is Trev," the first baseman said. "Going in the shower with him, weird enough, seeing him naked, seeing that scar on his shoulder fires me up. Everybody is kind of banged up right now and him coming out and him finishing the season with us on a high note it's really special to see. But everybody in here is grinding through something. That was what the motivation for me to get back out here. Everybody is a little banged up and we all have to keep fighting through this together. We're the ones holding each other accountable, pushing each other every day. Making sure we know we're confident in each other and holding each other to the highest standard possible."
Bottling the kind of vibes that Casas and Story supplied Wednesday was always going to be one of the biggest keys when it came to the Red Sox' making a September run. And after a somewhat slow start upon their respective returns, there have been the kind of encouraging signs that offer optimism for both the near and somewhat distant future.
A productive Casas at first and healthy Story at shortstop are absolutely part of solution for the Red Sox, representing one less thing the organization has to agonize over when figuring out how to fix this thing.
"I mean, everyone knows how talented he is," said Red Sox starter Tanner Houck regarding Story. (Houck allowed one run over four innings his first start in two weeks.) "He’s a leader in this clubhouse, on the field, off the field. To have his leadership, his defense, his offense, just having him around, it's a great morale boost. Love being around him and I could say plenty of other great things about Trevor."