The irony shouldn't been lost on Travis Shaw.
Not supposed to play. Big game. Yoan Moncada in attendance. This was Sept. 2016 all over again.
Saturday night, Shaw supplied a good portion of the heroics in the Red Sox' 9-8, 10-inning win over the White Sox in Chicago. There was the three-run homer in a seven-run third inning and then the game-winning single in the 10th.
All of this coming after Shaw only discovered he was in the lineup just about an hour before the game, filling in for J.D. Martinez, whose back hadn't quite calmed down.
“Yeah, I was taking BP," Shaw said, explaining he found out his name was in the starting lineup. "(Alex Cora) AC told me about halfway through BP that there’s a chance that I might be in there if JD’s back kept acting up and then right at the end of BP, I got the notice that I was in there. I just went about my day normally. I try to stay — even when I’m not playing, I try to stay ready just in case something like this happens. You never know when this could happen, especially late in the year. Guys are grinding a little bit on their bodies, so I stayed ready and thankfully had a good night.”
For those who remembered Shaw's last go-round with the Red Sox, much of the scene should have rung a bell.
When August turned into September back in 2016, Shaw was kicked to the curb when it came to the starting third base spot, with the Red Sox choosing to promote Moncada.
But before the then-rookie got his first start, the Red Sox decided Shaw would start one more game, manning third for the series-opener against Oakland. That night the lefty hitter made his feelings clear via a three-hit, five RBI game.
The next two games in Oakland and the first two contests in San Diego in the Red Sox' next series, Shaw ended up getting a total of one at-bat, spending much of his time trying to learn left field. Then came the series finale against the Padres. There were two hits and another home run. And with Moncada struggling, the conversation had changed.
Most everyone had buried Shaw. He wasn't quite ready for such a dismissal.
Sound familiar?
“To be honest, this is kind of the first time I’ve been in this role," he said. "When I went back to Milwaukee the first couple months of the season, I was playing every day. Even last year in Toronto, I was playing 5-6 days a week, so this is kind of the first time I’ve been in this role and I’ve tried to ask some guys who have been in this role in the past, like how do you do it? How do you stay ready? For me, I just continue to prepare like I’m playing every day. That’s the only way I can keep my body going and try to stay up on all the pitchers and the matchups that I might face late in games with relievers. For me, it’s still new. I’m still trying to get used to it, but kind of learning on the fly here and so far it’s been turning out pretty well.”
Truth be told, Shaw has more than held his own while adjusting to his new existence.
Six of his eight hits have been of the extra-base variety, allowing for a .267 batting average and 1.000 OPS in 34 plate appearances.
Another hint that Shaw could handle the out-of-nowhere at-bats came at the end of the 2016 season. By the time he pinch-hit for Aaron Hill in Game 3 of the Red Sox American League Division Series game against the Indians, Shaw had a total of four at-bats over the course of two weeks.
But, in his last game with the Red Sox before being dealt to Milwaukee a month later, Shaw came through with a pinch-hit, eighth-inning single. He would then hit a game-ending rocket to right field in the ninth that would have won the game for the Sox if it just a little more air under it.
Different player. Different team. Eerily similar situation.
Lesson: Shaw seems like he might have a few more things to say.
“I don’t want to say surprised. Coming off my rehab assignment, when I got DFA’d, my swing felt like it was in a good spot," he said. "I felt like I was ready to go and I’ve been able to get some spot starts here and there and had some early success, which obviously helps your confidence level and everything and everything translated from the rehab assignment to the big leagues. I just feel in a good spot overall. Health-wise, swing-wise, so can’t complain.”