The Chicago Cubs are calling up third-base prospect Matt Shaw, and he will join the team as it begins a six-game road trip through Miami and Cincinnati, league sources confirmed.
Shaw made the Cubs roster after spring training and struggled offensively out of the gate, posting a .172/.294/.241 slash line with an uncharacteristically high 26.5 percent strikeout rate. On April 15, the Cubs sent Shaw back to Triple-A Iowa to regain his confidence and make some slight mechanical changes, including toning down his dramatic leg kick.
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Shaw made the changes the Cubs wanted to see and has been on a torrid stretch at the plate, homering twice on both Thursday and Friday. In 24 games in Iowa this season, he’s posted a 151 wRC+ with six homers and 12 total extra-base hits.
Since demoting Shaw, the Cubs have gotten little production at third base. According to FanGraphs, the Cubs have a -0.5 WAR and 35 wRC+ from the position, 29th in baseball since April 16.
If Shaw can bounce back from his rough initial stint in the big leagues, it would add even more depth to one of the most productive lineups in baseball. News of Shaw’s return was first reported by the New York Post.
Shaw, 23, was the Cubs’ top pick in the 2023 draft, No. 13 overall, out of Maryland. From the moment he arrived in professional baseball, he has hit. The infielder rarely slumped despite some unconventional mechanics at the plate. Scouts believed that he was eventually going to need some adjustments, but failure would have to come first.
That finally happened at the highest level, but this past weekend, Shaw applied some changes he had been working on behind the scenes.
Shaw’s improvements gave the Cubs enough confidence that he was once again ready to join the big-league roster. After being with the club through the toughest schedule in baseball and facing some of the best pitching in the game, Shaw should have a slightly easier time these next few weeks as the Cubs enter a stretch of the schedule that includes the Miami Marlins, Colorado Rockies and Washington Nationals.
(Photo: Kenta Harada / Getty Images)
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