Alex Cora Preaching Patience When It Comes To Red Sox Star Trevor Story

Trevor Story has not been the savior -- at least not yet -- the Boston Red Sox envisioned since returning from injury.

Granted, it has only been two games for Story since getting back into the Red Sox lineup after an internal bracing procedure in his right elbow took away the majority of this season, but his performances thus far haven't provided much promise.

Story has had eight plate appearances so far against the lowly Kansas City Royals and has failed to record a hit while striking out six times.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora isn't worried about Story's struggles at the plate, understanding the shortstop would go through an acclimation period facing big-league pitching again.

"Out in front, late on fastballs. Timing's off, so that's part of it," Cora told reporters prior to Thursday's series finale against the Royals at Fenway Park. "It's not that easy, man. It's the big leagues and they're going to go to places that they feel you're not there yet. You saw a lot of spin early (Wednesday), then he made the adjustment, tried to stay back and he got fastballs. It's the game within the game. The more pitches he sees, the better it's going to be."

After batting third in his season debut and on Wednesday, Cora slid Story down the order to the No. 5 spot Thursday with the Royals starting lefty Austin Cox.

The plan for Story is to return to shortstop Friday against the Detroit Tigers after filling Boston's designated hitter role for two straight games. Cora then plans to play Story two out of the three road games the Red Sox have at the start of next week against the Washington Nationals.

Cora wants to give Story as many opportunities as possible despite the two-time All-Star trying to find his way at the plate and the Red Sox looking to stay in playoff contention.

Cora believes just having Story's glove in the lineup is a benefit and that things will start clicking in the batter's box for him soon enough.

"He's one of the best athletes in the big leagues," Cora said. "He's made only two (defensive) plays -- the jump on one of the stolen base attempts and then the play he made to his right. We know defensively he's going to be a plus for us.

"Offensively, hopefully we get him going right away so he can impact the game not only at the plate, but running the bases. It's a great addition for us. We just got to be patient and understanding that this is a process. At one point, he's going to get it and he's going to start hitting the ball in the air. And he should be fine after that."