SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — If Trevor Story is nervous about his pivotal, upcoming season, he certainly doesn’t show it.

His body ripped from a strenuous offseason workout program back home in his native Texas, the Rockies’ 25-year-old shortstop speaks calmly about the task confronting him.

“I feel great, I can’t wait to get back into it again,” Story said from the spring training clubhouse at Salt River Fields. “Baseball is a game of adjustments. It’s no secret that I struggled at the beginning of last year, but I think there was an ends to that. I used that. I learned.

“I talked to people like Charlie (Blackmon) and Nolan (Arenado) and DJ (LeMahieu). They have all been there. Everybody struggles. It’s what you do after the struggles that matters.”

“Struggle” is a kind word for what Story endured last spring. He hit .167 in April, striking out in 43 percent of his at-bats. By the end of May, his batting average had inched up to .197, but he was still whiffing at a 39-percent clip. The Rockies stuck with him.

Riding a strong September — .262 average, six home runs, nine doubles and 22 RBIs — Story was able to finish the season batting .239 with 24 home runs and 82 RBIs. He was at his best down the stretch when Colorado pushed for its first postseason berth in eight years. In his final 23 games, Story hit .302 with five homers, eight doubles, two triples and 18 RBIs.

Still, he led the National League with 191 strikeouts, the most in franchise history, and had a 38 percent whiff rate. What does he plan to do reduce that ugly number?

“I would say it’s both knowing yourself and getting to know the pitchers better,” he said. “It’s about finding that balance; knowing what guys are trying to do to you, and then actually applying that to an at-bat.”

Story is also simplifying his approach. Instead of worrying so much about mechanics, he’s focusing on identifying pitches he can drive.

“The last six weeks (last season) is more indicative of who Trevor can become,” manager Bud Black said. “Being in a good mental frame of mine and staying consistent in the here and now is key. Stay in the moment, concentrate on approach over mechanics. Trevor needs to focus on a few key things that work for him, not a whole bunch of things.”

Hitting a baseball appeared deceptively easy in the spring of 2016 when Story burst onto the big-league stage like a supernova. He mashed six home runs in his first four games, and 21 prior to the all-star break, tying Dave Kingman (1972) and Albert Pujols (2001) for the National League record for most home runs by a rookie prior to the break. Related Articles Why Raimel Tapia’s confidence is soaring in breakout season with Rockies

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He was a headline writer’s dream: “Story Time!” “The Never-ending Story!” “Story-book Season!” On and on it went until a torn thumb ligament ended his season on July 30. He still finished with 27 homers to lead all big-league rookies.

But a book on Story had been compiled by this time a year ago. Pitchers started attacking him differently. According to data collected by Fangraphs and Beyond The Box Score, pitchers threw more changeups on the outside of the plate and more sliders down in the zone. Story struggled making contact against both pitches. He also popped out more.

Black theorized that Story’s success from the 2016 season put extra weight on Story in 2017.

“A lot of players think there is going to be a natural carryover,” Black said. “I can’t speak for Trevor, but I think he would probably say that he tried to do some things in ’17 that he did in ’16, and that was probably not the way to go about it.”

Story is ready to learn from both seasons, and move on. General manager Jeff Bridich is eager to see what the next chapter brings.

“This could be an incredible opportunity for growth for Trevor Story, unbelievable,” Bridich said. “That’s where there should be pride for him. There should be pride for me and for us around him that his professionalism — that he handled his struggles like a professional. And that the other parts of his job, that are very important, especially at a very important defensive position, did not suffer.”

Indeed Story shined at shortstop a season ago, prompting Black to tout him as a Gold Glove candidate. Story ended the season with 11 defensive runs saved above average, the best mark among all National League shortstops. Story said he made plays a year ago he didn’t come close to as a rookie.

“He works incredibly hard on his defense, like all of our infielders do,” said third baseman Nolan Arenado, who’s won five Gold Gloves in his first five seasons in the majors. “We’ve talked about that. You work at something until it becomes instinctive for you.”

When Story was foundering at the plate, he found solace in the knowledge that he was still helping the team.

“That’s kind of how I have always been,” he said. “When I was struggling offensively, I felt like, ‘What can I do, defensively, to help?’ I take a lot of pride in my defense and I try to match the tone set by DJ and Nolan.”

The defensive play that is fast becoming Story’s signature is gobbling up a grounder up the middle and then making a quick, across-the-body throw to first.

“Part of that is anticipation and knowing the game better,” he said. “It’s a tough ball to get to, so I practice it a lot. That way, it feels natural during a game.”

Still, one of the big questions about the Rockies’ potential success rests on Story’s bat. It was so prodigious in 2016 and so problematic in 2017, what will 2018 bring?

“Listen, I was so worried about mechanics and stuff last year, and now I’ve kind of let that go,” he said. “My swing is my swing, and that’s kind of freed me up to take care of other things.”

A Tale of Two Seasons

A comparison of shortstop Trevor Story’s first two seasons in the majors:

Season…..Games….AB….Avg…HRs…RBIs…SO%…OPS

2016……….97……..372…. .272 … 27……72….. 34.9% … .909

2017……….145……503…. .239 … 24 ….. 82 …. 37.9% … .765