Red Sox Star Trevor Story ‘Felt Great’ Following First Rehab Game

It was another test Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story had to pass on his road back to the major leagues. And he aced it.

Story, who has been sidelined since January after undergoing an internal bracing procedure on the UCL ligament in his throwing elbow, excelled in his first rehab game Friday night with Double-A Portland. He went 1-for-2 in the contest with a walk and also smashed a three-run home run to left field.

The round-tripper served as the perfect punctuation on the night for Story, who was just thrilled to put the monotonous rehab work behind him and return to game action for the first time this season.

"It felt great, man," Story told reporters, per MassLive's Christopher Smith. "It was kind of surreal playing in a real game. It's been a long time coming. I feel like we've put in a lot of work to get to this point. Still not done but definitely a big step in the right direction.

"I felt like a kid out there again competing and I've been looking forward to that for a long time."

Story last played in a game on Sept. 11 of last year, concluding his first season with the Red Sox in which he batted .238 with 16 home runs and 66 RBIs.

Story's bat and approach at the plate certainly looks up to speed in just one rehab appearance, but the biggest question mark on his trip down to the farm would be how his arm would hold up while playing shortstop. Story played five innings at the position and made a couple of nice throws on the run to record outs.

“It feels great," Story said about his arm, per Smith. "We've been doing a lot of trying to simulate game-like throws. That's my bread and butter kind of throwing on the run like that. So got two balls like that today to kind of break the ice."

Story will stay with Portland throughout the weekend as the two-time All-Star is slated to serve as the Sea Dogs' designated hitter Saturday before playing another five innings at shortstop Sunday. It hasn't been revealed what the plan for Story is beyond this weekend.