Milwaukee Brewers check in on Trevor Story, per report

Story would be a force in the Brewers lineup

Another report has surfaced about the Milwaukee Brewers being in on one of the top bats on the market. This time it is Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies that the Brewers are interested in.

Trevor Story is also considered one of the best defensive shortstops in the game. Of course the Brewers added their current shortstop, Willy Adames, to the team via trade not too long ago. He plays pretty good defense at shortstop as well and has been the Brewers’ biggest offensive weapon since the trade between Tampa Bay and Milwaukee occurred. If Story comes to Milwaukee, one of them is obviously playing third base or some other position.

Story has been a force in Colorado for years now. Since he came into the league in 2016, Story has slashed .273/.339/.521, hitting 146 home runs over that time period. Unfortunately, Story has not been that good this season. His slash is just .242/.313/.425.

There was thought that elbow inflammation that put him on the injured list in May could have been the culprit, but he has not been any better since coming back. In fact, he may be worse as his slash since coming off the injured list is .224/.301/.425. To be fair he was hitless in his first four or so games back. Since June 16, he has 7 home runs, but his OBP is not good (.305).

Maybe he is ready to go on a hot streak. Or maybe he is not fully recovered. The 28 year old shortstop is generally a well above .350 OBP and .500 slugging percentage. 2021 has not been a reflection of a typical Trevor Story season. As a result, David Stearns and Company should do their due diligence before pulling the trigger on a trade for Story, and I imagine they will.

Story is a classic rental. The Rockies are willing to trade him because he is a free agent at the end of the season. If the Brewers trade for Trevor Story then they need to get a healthy Trevor Story.

If he is healthy, watch out for a Willy Adames-like turn-around. And Trevor Story has a bigger bat than Adames. There is reason to believe that this very thing could happen. Since that June 16 date that I mentioned previously, Story’s hard hit rates have been quite good.

Fan graphs

This is not a season worth of work by any means, but take a look at some of those numbers in comparison to the leagues best in hard hit stats.

MLB.com

While any team looking at Trevor Story should be looking hard at his medicals, those hard hit statistics suggest that Story might be ready to break out. If the Brewers do pull off a trade for this guy, I would bet the farm that he produces.

Baseball statistics courtesy of Fangraphs, Baseball Savant, MLB.com