Travis Shaw has inserted himself into the Red Sox first base conversation.
With all the talk about transitioning Hanley Ramirez to first base for 2016, Shaw's play in the last month has been overlooked.
Wednesday night, he belted a two-run homer in the eighth to snap a 0-0 tie, giving him seven homers in just 93 at-bats.
That's an average of one homer every 13.3 at-bats, an impressive ratio for anyone -- much less a rookie.
And Shaw is an older rookie - he didn't make his major league debut until he was 25, having spent more than four full seasons in the minors.
Shaw's power explosion at the big league level came as something of a suprise since he hit just five for Pawtucket in 77 games earlier this year. But that was an outlier of sorts for Shaw, who has shown decent pop in his minor league career.
A year ago, he hit 21 homers between Portland and Pawtucket. The year before that, in a full year at Double A Portland, he hit 16.
Of course, Shaw is hardly the first rookie to post impressive numbers in a relatively small sample size. In a week or two, pitchers could catch up to him, make adjustments and he could be overmatched. Happens all the time.
But this audition has been impressive and suggests that perhaps there's more to Shaw than many expected.
Look: if Ramirez can show in the final five weeks that he could handle first, he's likely the first baseman by default next season. He's owed $66 million over the next three years and this week, the Red Sox have already demonstrated that they don't see him returning to the outfield next year. The DH spot, meanwhile, is already ably filled by David Ortiz next season, and likely, the season after that.
On the other hand, if the Sox find a taker for Ramirez, then Shaw could at least represent a platoon option at first next year.