Boston Red Sox: Travis Shaw to Start at Third Base
In a surprise move, the Boston Red Sox named Travis Shaw their starting third baseman, relegating Pablo Sandoval to the bench to begin the year.
Today manager John Farrell announced that the Boston Red Sox have elected to go with Travis Shaw at third base in place of Pablo Sandoval.
Pete Abraham had the news on Twitter: “John Farrell says that Travis Shaw is the Red Sox third baseman. Pablo Sandoval to the bench. Met with both players this morning.”
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Just a year ago this situation would have been unthinkable. Prior to the 2015 season the Red Sox signed Sandoval to a five-year, $95 million contract. However, in 2015 Sandoval had easily the worst offensive season of his career. He hit .245/.292/.366 to go along with 10 HR and 47 RBI. All of those totals were career lows for seasons in which he played at least 50 games.
This spring Sandoval’s ability to bounce back, as well as his conditioning, was a major story line for the Red Sox. Sandoval has been dealing with a lower back issue over the past few weeks. However, as Jason Mastrodonato reported just two days ago, the Red Sox were optimistic about his performance and injury status.
Travis Shaw was a ninth-round pick for the Red Sox in the 2011 draft. A season ago he saw action in 65 games for Boston and accumulated a noteworthy 115 OPS+. This spring he’s hit .333/.377/.509. Shaw’s defense at third has also been encouraging. Christopher Smith notes that Shaw has been errorless in 49 chances this spring while Sandoval made 4 errors in 26 chances.
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Sandoval reacted to the news by saying, “It’s the right decision to help the team win.” However, you wonder how Red Sox fans will handle watching Sandoval, who’s in the second year of a large contract, spend his time on the bench to start the season. A slow start for Shaw will open the door for Sandoval to reemerge, but for now this stands as a surprising turn of events from just a year ago.