Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story set an MLB record on Sunday with his seventh home run through his team’s first six games of the season, per Owen Perkins of MLB.com.
He passed some impressive company with the record-breaking home run, per Baseball Tonight:
Story burst onto the scene this year in his first career game when he went 2-for-6 with two home runs and four RBI in a 10-5 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Opening Day.
He hit four home runs over the next three games, including two more on Friday in a 13-6 loss to the San Diego Padres. His home run streak was broken on Saturday in another loss to the Padres, 16-3, but he bounced back with an eighth-inning blast on Sunday for the record as the Rockies salvaged the series with a 6-3 win.
The 23-year-old is hitting .333 with 12 RBI on the season.
“I’m just trying to have a clear mind up there and compete with my eyes,” Story said on Friday, per Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. “I know there will be ups and downs. When I’m going good, this is what it is.”
Scott Miller of Bleacher Report recognized Story’s impressive performance:
Although playing at Coors Field can certainly improve a player’s power, that excuse can’t be used here, as Story hit his first four home runs on the road. He hit 20 home runs last season in 130 minor league games, but no one could have predicted this power.
A week into the season, he has more home runs than 16 teams, per ESPN Stats & Info.
He obviously won’t keep up this pace, and he’d have to reach 50 to break Mark McGwire’s rookie home record, but if he can reach 40, he’ll finish in second place.
Story, a 2011 compensation pick by the Rockies, was the benefactor of a 2015 trade that sent starting shortstop Troy Tulowitzki to the Toronto Blue Jays.
It’s a small sample size, but considering Story has knocked in more than one-third of Colorado’s runs this season, it’s safe to say they’ll be OK moving forward without Tulowitzki.
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