Shaw returns to 1B, builds familiarity in infield

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Slow rollers are the hardest.

When Travis Shaw joined the Blue Jays on a one-year, $4 million deal last offseason, he knew he would be spending more time at first base. Though he played the position regularly in the Minors, the 29-year-old has started just 83 games there over five Major League seasons.

Joining his new team in Dunedin for Spring Training, Shaw was tasked not only with returning to first, but also getting acquainted with his new fellow infielders. Part of that introduction became about feel -- figuring out whose throws may arrive with some cut or sink, or how different infielders react when they make off-balance throws to him.

“For a first baseman, you have to know what to expect,” Shaw said. “It helps you get to the bag and prepare your footwork a little bit easier once the season starts. I’m still learning a couple of these guys, but they all have good arms and have been making good throws.”

The throws coming from second base tend to be the easiest and most consistent, though the arm angles from infielders on the right side of the diamond can have more variation since there is often more time to field and decide what to do with the ball.

The one caveat, of course, comes with the shift.

“When I play second, I like to throw from [a lower slot] because it’s more accurate and smoother for me,” said Cavan Biggio, who’s expected to get the bulk of the playing time at second this season. “When I go on the other side for a shift or whatnot, I try to go over the top and get the backspin.”

The more a first baseman sees his teammates use different arm slots, the easier it is for him to anticipate what’s coming. Spring workouts and Grapefruit League games offer that training ground.

“Before games, you take grounders with the guys,” Biggio explains. “A guy like Brandon Drury, who likes to throw [from a lower arm slot], or Bo [Bichette], who likes to throw [from a higher arm slot], or whoever it is, you have an idea. They’re trying their best to make it as true as possible. But if it’s not, [it’s up to the first baseman] to pick them up and make a play on it.”

Shaw, who has accrued 400 big league starts at third base, understands all those intricacies. He expects his biggest challenge to be what even seasoned veterans struggle with: slow rollers.

“You can’t [prepare] because slow rollers are never consistent,” Shaw said. “When I play third base, you don’t have time to mess with your grip once you get the ball. It’s about getting it and getting rid of it as fast as you can, however you get it. And the first baseman’s job is to catch it.”

With two young infielders on the left side of the diamond -- Bo Bichette at short and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at third -- Shaw has the added challenge of figuring out the tendencies of players who are still developing their own skills.

Bichette, for instance, admits that he often had “no clue” where his throws were going during his first few seasons of professional baseball. He has worked to rein in that movement, and the backspin Bichette now has helps keep his throws to first base truer.

But getting there took some time.

“It’s just practice,” he said. “It’s more of a feel thing. You’ve got to practice and learn how to do it. … I always had a good arm [and velocity]; I just had to learn how to throw it with backspin.”

So far this spring, Shaw has logged 101 innings at first base. He has had dozens of opportunities to take throws and make reads, in addition to the ongoing work the team is doing as part of its pregame routine.

And he’s pleased to report that, more than halfway through Grapefruit League play, “Nobody’s put me in harm’s way.”