For Shaw, loss to Marlins just 'Opening Day'
MILWAUKEE -- Travis Shaw stepped to the plate at home for the first time in nearly a month and ripped a base hit to right field on Tuesday. The Brewers were down a couple of runs, but the Miller Park faithful, cognizant that Shaw was back from the Minor Leagues and desperate to shake a deep slump, cheered a little bit louder than your typical second-inning single. It was an optimistic moment.
By the time Shaw made it back to home plate, that feeling was gone. It was the bottom of the fifth, and the Marlins, last in the Major Leagues in runs scored this season, had just put together the biggest inning in Miller Park history at the Brewers’ expense: Fifteen batters, 11 runs, nine hits, two walks and one Shaw error.
Miami won in a rout, 16-0, that tied the Brewers’ largest margin of defeat in a home game. They lost to the A’s, 19-3, in May 1985 at County Stadium.
It got so bad after the Marlins knocked around Taylor Williams and Corbin Burnes that utility man Hernan Perez was called upon to pitch for the second time this season, and he debuted some new looks during a 1-2-3 ninth inning after viewing a YouTube video of funky deliveries. It was good for a needed laugh near the end of a long night.
"You want to forget this one as fast as you can, so I think Perez going out there starts to help you forget about it at little bit," Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. "They kicked our butts tonight."
Said Shaw: “Tough game, but honestly, those games will happen throughout the season. Those are pretty easy to get over.”
The error, not to mention the lopsided result, marred what was otherwise a promising “Opening Day” for Shaw, who declared an intent to think of his season that way upon returning Tuesday afternoon from testing his sprained right wrist on a rehab assignment at Triple-A San Antonio.
Besides Shaw's single in the second inning he also doubled in the seventh, walked in the ninth and was robbed of a base hit by Marlins shortstop Miguel Rojas with a slick fielding play in the fifth. All three balls in play left Shaw’s bat north of 93 mph, according to Statcast, and the single and the groundout were in the triple digits. It was the sort of solid contact he had been searching for.
After back-to-back seasons of 30-plus home runs in 2017-18, Shaw entered Tuesday night with a .163/.266/.281 slash line.
By wins above replacement, he was tied with fellow slumping slugger Jesus Aguilar as the Brewers’ least valuable player this season.
“For me, this is Opening Day,” Shaw said Tuesday afternoon. “That's my mindset going in. What has happened in the past, I can't change that. Everybody knows it's been a grind this season. It has been very negative, not a lot of results. But for me it's Opening Day and we start from here."
On May 13, Shaw had just returned from a weekend out of the lineup against the Cubs’ lefty-heavy starting rotation when he re-injured a right wrist that also gave him trouble for much of last season. Once the discomfort subsided, the Brewers assigned Shaw to San Antonio, where he spent the first three or four games trying a different mechanical change each night in search of a good feeling at the plate.
It was during a series in Memphis that something -- Shaw declined to say what it was -- clicked. In a subsequent series at home he began driving the baseball with more authority, including a three-hit performance on Friday that included a home run.
“The last three games, I felt really good,” Shaw said. “Hit the ball really hard. A lot of barreled balls. I started to drive the ball again, see the ball well. Overall, I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish.”
And his wrist?
“I haven't had any issues since I've been down there,” he said.
The price of bringing Shaw back was a temporary demotion for top Brewers prospect Keston Hiura. News that he’d been optioned back to the Minors despite hitting more home runs in 69 plate appearances, one more homer than Shaw hit in his first 154, was not exactly met with cheers when the club announced the decision on Monday’s off-day.
Shaw was asked whether he was worried he might bear some of that fan frustration, considering he was the other half of the roster move.
“I'm not really too worried about that,” Shaw said. “We don't play the same position. I feel like I'm where I belong. I'm ready to give this another shot. I know what type of hitter I am. It's only 130 at-bats or whatever. I've made some adjustments and I'm confident in those adjustments.”
He was even more confident after one game -- even if the result for the team was slightly less promising.
“I was in a good spot mentally coming back here,” Shaw said. “Physically, I was in a good spot, too. Tonight, it felt like all four at-bats were positive. That’s all I could control. Put myself in a good position to hit every at-bat and see what happens. If I continue to do that, the rest of the year will be just fine.”
Supervising Club Reporter Adam McCalvy has covered the Brewers for MLB.com since 2001.