Red Sox: Five lowest points of Pablo Sandoval’s tenure in Boston
By Sean Penney
A starter no more
The 2016 season was a failure from the start for Sandoval. He showed up to camp dreadfully out of shape. He made claims that the team never asked him to lose weight, conflicting with reports of what the front office had previously stated. On the heels of the worst season of his career, Sandoval carried himself like a player who simply didn’t care.
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While Sandoval seemed content to keep cashing his paychecks, John Farrell made it clear that the size of a player’s contract would not dictate the amount of paying time they received. If the manager’s words were meant to light a spark under Sandoval, they did little to stir a positive reaction from the Panda.
This opened the door for Travis Shaw to swoop in and steal the starting third base job entering the season. Shaw impressed the club in limited time at the tail end of the previous season and he carried a scorching bat through spring training. With Farrell intent on putting his most productive lineup on the field, turning to Shaw at Sandoval’s expense was an easy choice.
Sandoval would appear in only three games that season, going without a hit and tallying four strikeouts in six at-bats. He was placed on the disabled list on May 2 with a shoulder injury that shelved him for the rest of the season.