BSN Exclusive: Trevor Story shares his favorite record-breaking moment

DENVER – It was a banner year in 2018 for Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story.

After a rough first four months of 2017 saw him strikeout at an astronomical rate, raising questions about whether or not the offense of his rookie season could be seen as a mistake, he vaulted himself into the MVP conversation by putting together one of the best all-around seasons for anybody who laced on a pair of cleats in MLB this year.

Posting a slash line of .291/.348/.567 with 37 home runs and 27 stolen bases and getting snubbed in the Gold Glove nomination process, Story couldn’t have asked for a much better third year in the Bigs with the exception of one incredibly poorly timed injury.

“It’s been nice,” Story told BSN Denver about his bounceback. “Baseball is such a tough game. Mentally, physically. I feel like over a long season, you can get up and down, but it’s vital to really believe in yourself throughout the whole thing. It’s been nice. I really tried to ride that momentum last year into spring and into the season and it’s worked.”

He found the key, or at least a key, to turning his fortuned around by picking the brains of some men who had been down this path before.

“I talk to Nolan a lot about hitting and approach,” he says. “Our hitting guys help me out a lot. At the end of the year – we were always working throughout the year – you try to find something that clicks and you ride with it. For me, it was all about my tempo. Getting going at the right time and just being slow with my body. That helped. That got me back to where I felt like I could be a good player and more consistent. So, that’s what I was doing.”

The natural result of a more complete approach at the plate, and this more measured tempo, was a dramatic reduction in strikeouts, otherwise known as empty at-bats. What happened to those encounters? They turned into walks and singles more than anything else as his slugging percentage remained steady.

And getting to first base more meant that he finally got to show off a part of his game that was prevalent throughout his minor league career but mostly absent at the majors; his elite speed.

“It’s been fun,” he says of turning the basepaths into his own sanctuary. “I wanted to make that a big part of my game. Going into the offseason, that was what I wanted to do because I felt like it could help us win. Nolan was a big part of that, too. He told me that I should be more aggressive, I should go, it’s going to help us win. After he said that I thought, ‘Let’s do it.’ [Also] learning from Chuck. Tony Diaz has been huge to me in that aspect. We study the pitcher every day and see what we can get on him.”

Then he reiterated. “It’s been fun.”

That fun translated to arguably the best single season out of any shortstop in franchise history which is pretty remarkable when you consider the legacy of Troy Tulowitzki. But Tulo’s well-documented health issues and a blistering pace from Story meant he was able to pass his former mentor in multiple big categories like home runs and extra-base hits.

In fact, he had so many XBHs that only Ernie Banks could claim to have tallied more out of the shortstop position by the All-Star break.

Depending on what numbers you have a particular affinity for, your favorite record-breaking performance from Story this season may vary. But for him, it comes down to matching a hero he watched from his hometown in Irving, Texas.

“I guess the one with A-Rod,” he says. I’m not sure the numbers of it. But I guess it’s just me and him.”

On September 11, Story ripped an RBI double that gave him 40 two-baggers, 30 home runs, and 25 stolen bases. He and Alex Rodriguez are the only shortstops in MLB history to have put together such a season.

“Growing up, he was the best hitter, the best fielder, the best everything. I was taken back by it a little bit. He sent me that video and that was pretty special to me.”

Of course, that was Story’s favorite individual moment from the season (that and his three-home-run night) but he plays for the team and so he couldn’t escape noting that the height of the season came in getting to celebrate in champagne a second-straight postseason appearance.

“It’s special,” he says. “You always need to celebrate any time you get a postseason berth because it’s so hard. It’s such a long season. Celebrate that for a little bit.”

 The season didn’t end the way Story and the Rockies would have hoped. But both the club and the player took massive steps forward in 2018 showing that the next few years can belong to them.