SHAW COULD BE A FIT AT THIRD BASE

It might be the least-known fact about Travis Shaw, who has made a Miguel Sano- like impact during his rookie season despite being about as touted as a two-star restaurant: He’s a natural third baseman.

Shaw entered Friday with a .312 batting average and .948 OPS, one of just 10 major leaguers with an OPS that high through at least 100 plate appearances this season. His left-handed stroke has been slicing baseballs into the Green Monster as though it’s what he was born to do. And yet after the news last week that the Red Sox will move Hanley Ramirez to first base with an eye toward playing there in 2016, Shaw’s future with the club might have appeared bleak.

Don’t sleep on his ability at third base.

The Red Sox have other options with Shaw, particularly if Ramirez doesn’t work at first base and the Sox want to try current third baseman Pablo Sandoval there, or perhaps they’ll find a way to trade Ramirez or Sandoval before 2016.

Shaw isn’t your average 6-foot4, 225-pound slugger you just stick at first base and hope he hits 30 dingers. The 25-year-old native of Washington Court House, Ohio, has feet that glide across the infield and a glove that seemingly can do no wrong.

On June 18, Shaw made his second career major league start against the Braves in Atlanta when Sandoval was benched for using Instagram during the Red Sox’ loss a day earlier. Shortly after the lineup was posted, Shaw placed a phone call to his former college coach at Kent State, Scott Stricklin, now the coach at the perennially strong University of Georgia.

“We were finishing up our day camp here at University of Georgia and Travis called at 4 in the afternoon, which I thought was odd because he should’ve been taking BP somewhere,” Stricklin said. “He said, `Coach, I got called up today and I’m playing third base in the big leagues.’ And Travis played third base for us at Kent State and was a very good defender with a plus arm, but I always felt like he was just going to be a first baseman, that when he got into pro ball he’d be a first baseman.

“So I had a good laugh. I said, `Hey man, you’ve worked hard, you’re in the big leagues as a third baseman.’ And the fact that he can play both sides (of the infield) really is a big advantage for him.”

The Red Sox liked what they saw from Shaw as a third baseman at Washington Senior High in Ohio, drafting him with their 32nd overall pick in 2008. But Shaw went to college instead of signing. And while Stricklin promised Shaw a chance to stay at third base at Kent State, he still figured Shaw would be better at first base long-term. Why? “I don’t know,” Stricklin told the Herald last week. “Maybe just stereotyping the body. He’s really big and strong and physical and he is really light on his feet for a guy that size. It’s kind of surprising when you see it. Sometimes you just stereotype the guy, `You’re big and strong. Let’s just put you at first base.’ ”

Stricklin wasn’t wrong. Shaw’s height and strength fit the mold of a first baseman. In the last 25 years there have been just four third baseman at least 6-4, 225 pounds to play 100 games at third base in a major league season: Miguel Cabrera, Scott Rolen, Jim Thome and Wes Helms.

“I saw Travis in high school, really liked the way he swung the bat,” Stricklin said. “So I went in house, did an in-house visit with his family. (His parents), Jeff and Julie were there. And we literally talked about that. I said, `Travis, I’m recruiting you as a third baseman but I think your future is going to be at first base.

“And I used Mark Teixeira as an example. Now, I’m not going to say Travis is going to hit that many home runs and be Mark Teixeira, but he reminded me a bit of him because Mark played third base when I was at Georgia Tech. And he was a good third baseman, but (I) knew he would be a really good first baseman. That’s what I talked to Travis about, to play third as long as you can, but I think his future as a big leaguer is probably going to be at first base.” Stricklin wasn’t alone. Jon Adkins spent parts of six seasons as a big league pitcher before the Red Sox hired him as a scout in 2011. Adkins’ assignment area was the Ohio River Valley. He knew about Shaw, but was scouting Kent State primarily to see if stud left-hander Andrew Chafin looked healthy following a medical redshirt season in 2010 due to an elbow injury. His attention, though, quickly shifted to Shaw.

“I had to sit there for three games and (Ohio University) had the opportunity to face Travis Shaw,” Adkins said. “Every time he’d come up they’d bring a lefty against him. He stayed on guys real well, showed he could use left-center field really well. We always liked him. All the power. He’s a great kid, too. He’s an outstanding kid.”

But defensively? Here’s where it gets tricky.

Scouts have only so much responsibility. They file their reports and offer opinions on amateur players, but once a player is drafted, the scout’s work is done and those in the front office make all the decisions.

Adkins didn’t have much say once the Sox drafted Shaw in the ninth round in 2011, after 291 players had been selected in front of him. But before the draft Adkins made it clear what he thought of Shaw’s defensive ability.

“I gave him a chance to stay at

third,” Adkins said. “The reason why — I know it’s a big body, but I thought the feet worked fairly well. It’s a reactionary position and he had good instincts, a natural feel and he has arm strength. That’s one of the things, you don’t want to say 100 percent — especially in our realm, we can’t say 100 percent they have to move. A lot of defense comes down to the makeup and character.”

Shaw spent his first minor league season — split between Single-A Greenville and Lowell — at third base, but the following season the Sox moved him to first, where he spent the majority of his minor league career until this season with with Triple-A Pawtucket, where he logged games at first and third, as a DH and in the outfield.

The Sox ultimately decided to move him back to third base, having acknowledged their black hole at the position. They rank 23rd in MLB in total hits by third basemen since Adrian Beltre left following the 2010 season.

After making just four errors in 43 games at third base with Pawtucket, Shaw has proven he can play third base at the major league level. Heading into the weekend, he had played 24 games at first, six at third and made one appearance in left field. Sox manager John Farrell, now on medical leave, said earlier this season he’d even use Shaw at shortstop in a pinch.

“I think he’s overcome that stereotype and shown he can play third,” Stricklin said. “Because the games that I’ve watched him at third base in the big leagues, he has played really well.”

Castillo strength shows

Rusney Castillo’s first home run after rejoining the Red Sox in late July upon Shane Victorino’s trade to the Angels was an absolute blast, exiting Fenway Park in a hurry and clearing the bleacher seats in straight-away center field where home runs rarely land. It was calculated at 426 feet.

The Red Sox have long been fascinated with Castillo’s strength and power, and it’s been clear that his tools have only continued to develop since the Sox signed him to a $72.5 million contract last August.

But long before signing with the Sox, Castillo was building muscle.

Adam Brush helps train professional baseball players at Five Tool Performance Training in Florida, having worked with Manny Ramirez, Aroldis Chapman and Yoenis Cespedes, among others, over the years. Fellow Cuban Cespedes introduced Castillo to Brush last summer, which left Brush with about six weeks to help Castillo get into shape for a showcase in front of major league teams.

“That guy was motivated. Crazy motivated,” Brush told the Herald last week. “These guys left their country and risked their life and their family’s lives to come over and play baseball in the U.S. They put a lot on the line. They’re extremely motivated when they come over.”

Brush gushed over the athletic ability Castillo displayed when he was working with the player to hone his baseball skills seven days a week while also weight lifting three days a week. Brush puts players through workouts designed to increase core strength, keeping their feet on the ground for most exercises and getting the most out of them in short increments.

Brush doesn’t speak much Spanish and Castillo spoke little English, but that hardly mattered as Castillo reportedly added 20 pounds in just a few months after leaving Cuba.

“The language was not a barrier to what the goal was, that’s for sure,” Brush said. “The goal was to get him to fill out more. Just eating more. Put on some size.

“He made tremendous progress. And he was extremely athletic coming in. He had to learn how to do exercises he never did before, but because of his athleticism he could pick them up quickly.”

Castillo is listed at just 5-9 and 195 pounds, but as of Friday he had hit five home runs with an average distance of 398 feet.

The shifting X-factor

Opposing teams have no longer been shifting to the pull side with Xander Bogaerts at the plate, but it might be a surprise that they haven’t started shifting him toward opposite field.

He’s completely altered his approach one year after opponents were stacking infielders between second and third base, so much so that Bogaerts entered Friday leading the majors with 43 hits with runners in scoring position, most of which have been singles or doubles toward right field.

“I’m not trying to think home run at all,” Bogaerts said. “Last year I kind of got pull-happy a little bit. Then once they throw off-speed pitches you can’t do anything with it; it would always be swing-andmiss. So I just kind of changed that. . . . Last year, knowing that the wall is right there, it would be easy to just go into your mind that you want to hit a home run. Before you know it you get behind in the count, you start to pull a lot and that’s something that it’ll take time for that to change. It’s not like you can go from one day as a pull hitter and then next day you’re different. It’s not that easy.

“They shifted me a lot last year. This year I just saw a big hole over there, just try to shoot it over there, get back my lane up the middle so I can get base hits up the middle too.”