John Farrell has named his starting third baseman, and it’s not the man who signed a 5-year, $95 million contract back in 2014.
Travis Shaw, the 25-year-old out of Washington Court House, Ohio, has been named the starter by Farrell, beating out Pablo Sandoval, according to Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe:
John Farrell says that Travis Shaw is the #RedSox third baseman. Pablo Sandoval to the bench. Met with both players this morning.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) March 31, 2016
Shaw will be making close to the league minimum this year, while Sandoval will be raking in a cool $17 million. Farrell said that a decision would be made by the weekend, but it came sooner.
“I understand it’s a focal point,” he told the Boston Herald. “It’s a focal point for our team, for the guys in our clubhouse. But in due time, that decision will be made and individuals will be sat down and talked to.”
Farrell described the criteria he was looking for in his third baseman to the Boston Herald:
“You’re looking at timing at the plate, the ability to make some adjustments to some secondary pitches that they’re going to be seeing,” the manager said. “You’re looking at the quality of the at-bats, not so much the end result. And if there’s some squared-up balls, some hard-hit baseballs. Where they land is almost secondary to the overall approach and how they’re addressing each type of pitch.”
Sandoval garnered a lot of attention after he showed up to Red Sox camp looking pretty big after being told to lose weight, although Sandoval refuted reports that he had been told to do so.
Shaw certainly earned his starting role. He batted for a .333 average during the spring, compared to Sandoval’s .244 in lesser at-bats. Shaw also went all spring without committing an error. That’ll typically get you in the good graces of your manager.
