Story bySean McAdamMon, February 23, 2026 at 5:16 AM UTC·3 min readFORT MYERS, Fla. — When the Red Sox abruptly switched approaches over the winter and focused more on run prevention, they didn’t mess around. The Red Sox traded for two starting pitchers (Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo) and signed another (Ranger Suarez) as a free agent. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThey also understood that, to reap the benefits of an improved rotation, they also had to better their infield defense after leading the league in errors last year. Accordingly, they will head into the 2026 season with three new starters in the infield: first baseman Willson Contreras, third baseman Caleb Durbin and, likely, second baseman Marcelo Mayer, though as Alex Cora pointed out Friday, Mayer will first have to earn his job. Meanwhile, the one holdover will be shortstop Trevor Story who enjoyed a bounce-back season at the plate in 2025 but graded out below average in most defensive metrics. Thanks mostly to a brief stretch of sloppy play in September, Story was minus-7 in defensive runs saved for the season. When it came to Outs Above Average, Story was minus-9. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“We’ve talked about it — the backhand, going to his right — is something where he wasn’t great last year," said Alex Cora.