FORT MYERS, Fla. — Sitting at a table in the Red Sox interview room Thursday morning, John Farrell was asked an innocent question about how he was going to divide playing time at third base — Pablo Sandoval vs. Travis Shaw — over the last week of spring training.

“Travis is starting today,’’ the manager answered. “Pablo is dealing with some low back stiffness on the ball he dove for the other day in Jupiter. He’s going to be down for a couple of days, just trying to get back. He’s going to be unavailable on a day-to-day status right now.’’

And so it begins . . .

It was one of those random, casual moments when the manager is lulling tired reporters to sleep (some of the scribes have been here for six weeks), then suddenly drops a payload of news into the middle of updates about Heath Hembree and Noe Ramirez.

Wait, John, what was that again about Pablo? Was there one specific play on which he injured his back?

“Yeah, he dove to his backhand side over against the Marlins the other day [Tuesday],’’ said Farrell. “We were in here yesterday [an off day] and he came in. The back stiffness. He was in here getting treatment most of the day yesterday and again today.’’

Is this a potential disabled list situation?

“Not at this point,’’ said the manager.

There you go. There’s an old baseball expression folks use when it’s too awkward to say that one player is being dumped in favor of another player. When cornered, the baseball boss will say, “These things have a way of working themselves out.’’

This may have been what we witnessed Thursday morning at the start of another Groundhog Day at JetBlue Park. Fans and media members have been clamoring for the Sox to make room for Shaw and say goodbye to the Panda. Sandoval’s back stiffness could be just the ticket.

You all know the narrative leading up to this moment. At the age of only 28, Sandoval won his third World Series with the San Francisco Giants and was subsequently signed by the Red Sox to a five-year, $95 million contract in the winter of 2014-15.

We thought he would be a popular Sox mainstay at third for many seasons. But he fell on his face in his first year in Boston. He abandoned switch hitting and seemed to lose his way in the field.

Always portly, he somehow got heavier as the woeful season played out. There were no panda hats in the stands and not much damage by Sandoval at home plate. He hit only .245 with 10 homers and a measly 47 RBIs in 126 games. He made 15 errors. He got caught browsing photos on Instagram from a clubhouse bathroom in the middle of a game.

At the end of the dismal season, the Sox sent him home and told him to shape up. When Panda arrived this spring, he looked exactly the same as he looked the year before. A first-day photo of him fielding grounders was positively gut-wrenching. Still, Sandoval said he had nothing to prove and went about his work.

The Sox appeared to be doing what they always do: covering for the guy. Needy chairman Tom Werner went off-script when he acknowledged on the radio that he was disappointed in Sandoval’s condition, but Farrell, Dave Dombrowski, and John Henry all said nice things about the Panda and his offseason training regimen. Henry told us that Sandoval’s body fat was a mere 17 percent (“Did he say, ‘70 percent?’ ’’ we wondered).

Meanwhile, the drums beat for Shaw, the unheralded phenom. Playing most of his games at first base (five at third), Shaw hit 13 homers in just 65 games with the 2015 Red Sox. He batted .270 and knocked in 36 runs. He looked like he belonged in the big leagues.

So here we are in spring training, and despite going 0 for 3 Thursday, Shaw is batting .418 with a Barry Bonds-like OPS of 1.108. Sandoval is hitting a respectable .265 with a couple of homers, but he’s already made four errors in just 14 games and things do not seem to be getting better in the hefty hot corner.

Meanwhile, the Sox have been much more aggressive and urgent in their remarks about the situation and their approach to Sandoval. They don’t seem to be worried about Pablo’s feelings anymore. Farrell has spoken about real competition for the third base job and it’s clear that Dombrowski (who met with Henry when the Sox played in Jupiter Tuesday) has told Farrell that it’s OK to play the best player, regardless of contract.

“The biggest thing is, we’ve got to get him [Sandoval] back on the field first,’’ Farrell said after Thursday’s game. “In the situation of an injury, the decision is pretty much made for you. Now, depending on how long this goes . . . we still clearly have him in day-to-day status.’’

So is this it? The passing of the torch? Brady over Bledsoe? Nomar over John Valentin? Lou Gehrig over Wally Pipp? Travis Shaw over the Panda? Are we going to be able to look back someday and remember Farrell casually mentioning that Panda tweaked his lower back in a meaningless exhibition game in Jupiter, Fla?

Stay tuned.

Dan Shaughnessy can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com