Matt Shaw taking it all in at his first Cubs spring training

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — The feeling of walking from the Cubs’ training complex over to Sloan Park before Friday’s Cactus League opener against the White Sox, then actually getting the chance to play in his first game with a Cubs uniform on, is a feeling Matt Shaw craves.

“The walk and the stadium and the fans, I mean, I haven’t been to any other [spring training ballparks], but it seems like the Cubs do it right,” Shaw said Saturday morning. “It’s so much fun. To be in that environment, it really, at least for me, feels like a real game, a season game. Everyone’s so invested. It’s really cool.”

Getting to step to the plate with a major league pitcher on the mound in live batting practice and in the Cubs’ first two spring games — and actually driving a couple balls to the gap — are moments Shaw relishes.

“It’s an opportunity to hit against big league pitchers,” he said. “That’s all you can ask for.”

Though he’s not always working with him directly during daily workouts, the chance to watch someone like All-Star and Gold Glove shortstop Dansby Swanson is eye-opening.

“You see how [Swanson] goes about his business and how calm and smooth he is in the field,” Shaw said. “You just know that his mind, as soon as that ball’s hit, he knows exactly how he’s attacking that. Stuff like that is just impressive, and you kind of look forward to it, saying, ‘This guy has spent so many hours grinding, playing to get to that point.’ It’s like, hopefully, you look at that and be like, ‘I wanna be at that level where I can be so confident and so comfortable playing in the big leagues.'”

Shaw, the Cubs’ first-round pick (No. 13 overall) in the 2023 MLB Draft, is in major league camp only a few months after making the jump from college to the pros.

A year ago, he was down in Oxford, Miss., playing Ole Miss as the starting shortstop on Maryland. Now, he’s down in Arizona surrounded by a bunch of guys sitting where he hopes to be someday soon. And he’s now started the Cubs’ first two spring games, including Saturday’s 8-4 win over the Giants.

That opportunity, one not many get this quickly, isn’t a career milestone that’s lost on him.

“I definitely had time to reflect on it,” Shaw said, “but really just enjoying it while I’m here. Just the opportunity to be here every day, to be around these guys. I think the reflection will happen a little bit after, but right now, just being able to really soak it all in and really enjoy it. And hopefully make some new friends and meet some people that hopefully you’re spending a lot of time with and becoming really, really close with.”

A group of the Cubs’ best prospects have also started spring training with the big leaguers. That includes fellow prospects without major league experience like Owen Caissie, Kevin Alcántara, and Ben Brown.

That group of players likely will spend a lot — if not all — of the 2024 season in the minor leagues. Despite rising to Double-A by the end of 2023 — due in large part to the way he dominated pitching at the rookie and High-A levels — Shaw has only played 38 total minor league games.

So, whether it’s during workouts or in spring games, he’s using these first few weeks of spring training to continue building relationships with some of his fellow prospects.

“Me being a little bit newer, I still have a lot of relationships to build, but being in those moments when you’re actually on the field together, I think it just connects you on a different level,” Shaw said. “You just start to really get to know that person, start to feel very comfortable with them. You start to understand what they like, what they don’t like, and that’s really nice for some guys that I don’t know as well to be in this position, so I start to really get to know them, honestly.”

What the future holds for Shaw isn’t yet clear. He’ll eventually get sent to finish spring with the rest of the minor leaguers and start the year with one of the Cubs’ affiliates. But is the big leagues in his future anytime soon?

He said at the Cubs Convention last month that he spent the winter taking “probably 99 percent” of his reps at third base. That could be a quicker route to the majors considering nobody has taken a firm hold of that position, but Christopher Morel is spending camp focused on taking everyday reps at third, and Nick Madrigal turned into a solid defender there last season. And of course, Swanson and Nico Hoerner have the middle infield locked up.

So, there’s no telling when and at which spot Shaw’s opportunity will come. For now, he’s just enjoying getting to step back and watch how the big leaguers do it.

“[It’s great to see] how they go about their business, just mature approaches, understanding the game, understanding themselves, what they need, all that stuff,” Shaw said. “I’m sure I got lots to learn, so I’m just looking forward to the next few weeks, few months, whatever it may be.”