AL WILD CARD SERIES: RED SOX VS YANKEES

September 29, 2026

Trevor Story

Yankee Stadium

Boston Red Sox

Pregame Press Conference

Q. What's the difference that you see from this team in this series compared to last year?

TREVOR STORY: Obviously two pretty different years. I think this year has created a lot of toughness in us as a team, as an organization, going through a lot of ups and downs and fighting our way back to be in this position.

From that aspect, I'd say we're a little tougher and yeah, ready for the challenge.

Q. Can you recall a season you've had where so much good and bad has gone on in the same year? From where you guys were in June to where you are now, you personally, what you've gone through, there's been a lot of differences here.

TREVOR STORY: Yeah, no doubt. It's been a whirlwind, for sure, from the team's standpoint to kind of the turnover of everyone coming in and not playing well and getting hurt and having surgery. It's felt like kind of five years in one.

But all that to say, this is kind of one of the end goals we had in mind, to be able to play in the postseason. Now that we're here, it feels surreal. So I'm happy to be a part of this thing and looking forward to, like I said, looking forward to the challenge.

Q. You'll have your A lineup ready for tonight. It's been a while since you've been able to do that. How much can that make a difference having everybody together and in the right spots and everything like that?

TREVOR STORY: It's huge. You always want your best at the very end. And that's where we're at now. So a lot of the guys that got us to where we are are a huge part of this team and they're gonna play a big part in this series and how far we go.

It's not about just 1 through 9. It's about every position player in there, every pitcher that's here and not here, hurt and not hurt. So we're excited to go out there with the squad we've got.

Q. When you guys were at your lowest point early at the beginning of this year, did you think that you would be here right now? Did you think that, even if you knew your team was good, when you dig yourself that big of a hole, do you lose faith at all that this is going to work out?

TREVOR STORY: I mean, like you said, we know and we always knew how good we can be. But we did dig ourselves a hole, that's for sure. And you very rarely see a team come out of something that big, and we did that.

It's a testament to all the hard work, all the coaches, everyone who's had their hands on this, the belief. And I think it started with the series at home in New York.

I think it's surreal to be here, but we always thought that this was a possibility, and the guys went out there and made it happen.

Q. Obviously a big start tomorrow for Sonny. What have you found out about him this year as a guy that's capable of leading the pitching staff and pitching to the capability of an ace?

TREVOR STORY: He's had a great career, and someone who I was never super comfortable facing. He's a pitcher to its finest degree. I think he knows -- he does so much preparation. He's very detail-oriented. And he's gonna be ready. There's no doubt.

There's no lack of preparation there at all. He's shown that he can lead the staff this year, Beast going down and Sonny stepped up and filled some big shoes. And all he did was just be him. That's the guy he is. And fun to have him on our team and be his teammate.

Q. Along the lines of going back to having the A lineup that you guys have here tonight, understanding that the playoffs raise the stakes and the adrenaline and all those things, how much do you lean on your experience facing Cam Schlittler tonight as opposed to what you may see in that first at-bat?

TREVOR STORY: Obviously there's some history, for sure, going back to last year in this series and over the years.

I think we can use experience to our advantage. Obviously he's gotten the best of us, I think, most of the time and we're looking to flip that tonight.

Q. The defense, your defense has been strong all season, team-wise. I'm curious, in a series like this where close games, low-scoring games, how much do you think that will factor into things? And how different has that been for the team than recent years where there have been defensive struggles and how important that could be?

TREVOR STORY: It's huge. It's a big emphasis on what we do day in and day out. It's what we think about -- pitching, playing clean defense, playing good defense, and timely hitting. I think those are the known keys to playing well in the postseason.

We've cleaned up a lot of that that we going on in the last few years. We're proud of that, and it's been one of our staples now. It's something that we lean on heavily is pitching and defense. And obviously that's gonna be -- that's our strong suit that we're going to have lean on that here throughout this series.

Q. Just kind of just seeing Chad Tracy, he seems like a calm and lose as he's been the whole season. How much of that kind of steadiness help you guys as a team?

TREVOR STORY: That's Trace. That's his demeanor. That's the way he lives his life, just very even keeled. And it's good, it can definitely calm a team, and we're not gonna be riding too high or too low. That's very important.

I'm excited for Tracy. He's getting kind of his first postseason action here, and we'll go out there and win it for him.