As expected, top Chicago Cubs prospect Matt Shaw is officially back today, joining the Cubs in Miami for the start of the Marlins series. He takes the 26-man roster spot of utility infielder Nicky Lopez, who was designated for assignment. In a way, it’s the second time Lopez got the boot from the Cubs because they decided Shaw was ready, with the first having come in Spring Training. The Cubs will have a week to trade, waive, or release Lopez, who may be able to find a big league job on another bench.
As for Shaw, we discussed his readiness to return earlier today (and, frankly, multiple times over the past week as he blistered the ball at Triple-A Iowa and passed the 100 plate appearance threshold). The expectation should not be for an immediate offensive breakout, but the Cubs clearly feel he’s ready to get passed the struggles he faced at the start of the season. The Cubs felt he was in “survival” mode at that time, dramatically limiting his hard contact ability in service of simply making contact. He started driving the ball again at Iowa, so hopefully that carries over. It’s also possible we’ll see some kind of reduction in his big leg kick, but I’m not convinced he made a major change on that front – he’s always varied it depending on the situation, the count, and the opposing pitcher.
We can expect Shaw to be the just-about-every-day third baseman while he’s up with the big league team. If he can play solid defense there and merely be a little-below-average offensively right now, then it’ll be a huge upgrade from what the Cubs have been getting at the spot so far this year.
This post was originally published on this site be sure to check out more of their content.
