By Boston Red Sox standards, 25-year-old corner infielder Travis Shaw and 25-year-old outfielder Jackie Bradley Jr. are really late blooming prospects.
With players like Eduardo Rodriguez (22), Mookie Betts (22), Xander Bogaerts (22), and Blake Swihart (23) on the 25-man roster and everyday starters already, Shaw and Bradley Jr. almost seem like veterans.
However, after a few frustrating years for both prospects, both Shaw and Bradley Jr. are starting to produce at the big league level, bringing to mind the question, “What will the Red Sox do with them in 2016?”
Shaw, mainly a first baseman, was a ninth round draft pick out of Kent State in 2011. He played 59 professional games with the Low-A Greenville Drive and Short-Season Lowell Spinners. He hit a respectable .262 and earned a promotion to High-A Salem in 2012. He hit over .300 there and was promoted to Double-A Portland for the end of the season. Despite struggling at the new level, Shaw still hit a robust .287 on the year.
However, in 2013, Shaw’s progress up the minor league ladder came to a screeching halt. He started the year in Portland and perhaps tried to become the power hitter that a lot of scouts like to see in a corner infielder, particularly a first baseman. The results? Shaw did wallop 16 home runs but his batting average dropped to .221 and he struck out 117 times.
Shaw stayed in Portland to start 2014 and improved, hitting over .300 at Double-A before receiving his promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket. However, Shaw struggled there as well. After hitting decently at the end of 2014, Shaw was sent to Pawtucket to start 2015. He was less than impressive as he hit just .249 with just 19 extra-base hits in 77 games. However, with fellow corner infielder Garin Cecchini doing even worse, Shaw received a few call-ups to Boston. Through July, Shaw had received four starts and appeared in nine games. The results were unimpressive to say the least: 3-for-15 at the plate with zero extra-base hits.
However, thanks to the trade of Mike Napoli to the Texas Rangers, Shaw has finally gotten a chance to stay in the lineup for an extended period of time, getting called up on August 1st.
And, finally, Shaw is making the most of it.
Shaw has been simply ridiculous in August, hitting .303 with an OPS of over 1.000. His season OPS has more than doubled from .450 at the end of July to a team-best .928 mark on August 31st. As a left-handed hitter, it’s fairly normal to struggle against left-handed pitching but Shaw has decimated opposing southpaws. He is hitting .324 off of left-handers and over .400 off of left-handed starting pitchers. Shaw has also been superb defensively. He has not made an error in over 200 chances.
He ranks seventh in the majors in slugging percentage in the past 30 games. His .576 mark is third on the team.
The one thing that Shaw needs to work on is his hitting away from Fenway Park. Shaw has been superb at Fenway, hitting .500 with six of his seven dingers coming in Boston’s home park. However, away from Fenway, Shaw is hitting just .098 in 16 games with one home run.
So what will the Red Sox do with Travis Shaw? They have multiple options.
They could send him back down to Pawtucket and sign a free agent first baseman like Chris Davis or move Hanley Ramirez to first base. Unlikely.
They could trade Hanley Ramirez or Pablo Sandoval and insert Travis Shaw as the starter at first base or third base. Possible.
They could sign a cheap free agent first baseman to give Shaw some competition for the starting job, so that they don’t simply hand the starting job to a rookie. They could also have super utility man Brock Holt battle Shaw for the starting job. Possible.
Trade Shaw while his value is high. Possible, depending on how Shaw performs down the stretch.
The last option is possibly the most plausible for the Red Sox. Considering how Shaw has performed of late, it’s almost a certainty that they will not send him down to Pawtucket. Trading Ramirez or Sandoval is possible but even still, the idea of handing a starting job to a rookie is not a good one. Trading Shaw is also a possibility. If the Red Sox don’t think he can keep up what he’s doing, they may trade him while his value is high. However, this has backfired in the past. The Red Sox sold high on first baseman Brandon Moss and he became an All-Star in 2014. So the most likely solution will be keeping Shaw and giving him some competition for the starting first base job.
That brings us to Jackie Bradley Jr.
If you’re a Red Sox fan, Bradley Jr. has been extremely frustrating to watch until this month. Bradley Jr. provides Gold Glove caliber defense and has made many highlight reel catches that were replayed on ESPN for days to come. However, until now Bradley Jr. just could not provide the offense.
A first round pick in 2011, Bradley Jr. sped through the Red Sox farm system. He reached Double-A in 2012, a year in which Bradley Jr. hit .315 with nine home runs and stole 24 bases.
With a lack of outfield depth, the Red Sox put Bradley Jr. on the major league roster to begin the 2013 season. While his defense remained stellar, Bradley Jr. struggled at the plate, hitting .189. He was sent down to Pawtucket where he hit .275. Bradley Jr. spent the majority of 2014 in Boston but his hitting had barely improved. He hit .198 in over 100 games.
Bradley Jr. began 2015 in Triple-A, an outfield prospect that most Red Sox fans forgot about as they focused their attention on Boston’s unexpectedly bad season. However, Bradley Jr. was called up for the third time in the season in late July after hitting .305 in Pawtucket. On August 8th, Bradley Jr. was hitting .121 on the season.
Things started to turn around for Bradley Jr. when he turned in a two-hit, five RBI performance against the Detroit Tigers on August 9th. It was the start of a six-game hit streak for Bradley Jr. During the streak, he put together a career game against the Seattle Mariners on August 15th. Bradley Jr. homered twice, doubled three times, and drove in seven runs in the Red Sox 22-10 win. The big day boosted Bradley Jr.’s average to a respectable .250, and Bradley hasn’t stopped since.
His average on August 31st was .259 and he has hit as high as .261 on the season. He’s hitting .329 in August and is fourth in the majors in both August slugging percentage (.711) and August OPS (1.120). His defense remains spectacular and Red Sox fans have to be wondering if this Bradley Jr. can perform like this next season. With the defense that Bradley Jr. provides, the Red Sox would be happy to see him hit .250, steal some bases, and play a great center field.
Boston’s options with Bradley Jr. are similar to their options with Shaw. They could hand him a starting job but that is not generally a good idea with a player who, despite a superb month, is largely unproven offensively. They could sign a veteran outfielder or have Brock Holt battle Bradley Jr. for the starting job. This is a good option. Bradley Jr. will have to earn the starting job and perform well if he wants to keep it.
Trade Bradley Jr. while his value is high is another option for the Red Sox. However, the last outfielder that the Red Sox sold high on was Josh Reddick. They traded him before the 2012 season. Since then, Reddick has won a Gold Glove and hit 71 home runs for the Oakland Athletics. He’s hitting a very solid .279 this season. So trading Bradley Jr. may not be a good idea.
The Red Sox gave Bradley Jr. and Shaw multiple chances and they’re finally coming through. They’ll find out if they can become a consistent offensive threat at the major league level.
If they do, these ‘veteran’ prospects could find themselves staples in the Red Sox lineup in 2016.