Matt Shaw makes his spring debut, sights still set on Japan

MESA, Ariz. — The long-awaited spring debut of Matt Shaw came against the Reds at Sloan Park on Sunday. He has been out with an oblique injury since just before the first full-squad workout almost a month ago. Shaw’s ability to get back on the field is important because, as the roster currently stands, the expectations are still that he will be the starting third baseman.

In Sunday’s game, Shaw went hitless in three at-bats. He grounded out to short on the first pitch of his first time up, then worked the count full and then even in his second and third trips to the plate.

“It feels amazing, to get back out there and just play baseball,” Shaw said. “That’s what we all look forward to, so it was a lot of fun to be back out there.

Shaw was aggressive in his first at-bat and did the same on Saturday while facing Luke Little and Cade Horton in sim games on the backfields. There, he swung at first pitches from both Little and Horton.

“If they’re going to give good pitches to it, I’m going to make sure I’m ready for those at any time,” Shaw said. “There’s situations as it starts to feel more gamelike, you know, the situation might say something different than my approach, and then I adjust. But for the most part, if I get a good pitch over the middle of the plate, then I’m going to be ready to hit it.”

The Cubs will have less time to evaluate Shaw’s readiness for the start of the season because of the injury, but manager Craig Counsell said before Sunday’s game that he thinks they know well enough the kind of player Shaw will be in the long term.

“This is a hard one because it’s short, right? That’s going to make this different,” he said. “I think we’re all going to jump on the first thing we see, positive or negative. [But] Matt Shaw is going to be a good major league player for the Chicago Cubs. That’s the evaluation.”

There are backup options just in case he’s not fully ready; the Cubs signed Justin Turner to a one-year, $6 million deal on February 20, Gage Workman has had an impressive showing at the plate this spring, Jon Berti and Vidal Bruján are available as utilityman options, and Nicky Lopez is in camp on a minor league deal.

Some combination of these players could fill third base if Shaw is not quite ready when the season begins, but the Cubs would prefer to give Shaw most of the starts at third. Turner is 40, Workman is a Rule 5 pick who will have to be returned to the Detroit Tigers if he doesn’t get a spot on the major league roster, Berti and Bruján will be needed to back up multiple spots, and Lopez would have to be added to the 40-man roster.

But as things stand now, Shaw is probably going to get the bulk of the starts at third base. He has the talent, but no major league experience yet. So be wary of making snap judgments and expect some growing pains.

“The big league game is going to humble you at some point. It happens to everybody,” Counsell said. “That’s a test that he probably hasn’t had in his life yet.”

Despite being just 23 and with no big league experience yet, Counsell said Shaw carries himself like he has been around for a long time and has the traits to handle the inevitable humbling that his first go-round in the Show will bring.

Counsell said the plan for Shaw is for him to play every other day. He’s fully healthy, but that’s standard protocol for a player in early spring, so the Cubs want to keep him on a normal ramp-up schedule.

Shaw has not been ruled out for the Tokyo series in Japan, but the team leaves on that trip after their March 11 game, so he would not have much opportunity to get his reps in the Cactus League before lengthy travel and a pair of games against the Dodgers. Like they are with Nico Hoerner, the Cubs could choose to leave Shaw in Arizona to get more at-bats an live game action in minor league games. There are two exhibition games in Japan before the Cubs play the Dodgers, against the Yomiuri Giants and the Hanshin Tigers, so it’s also possible that Shaw goes to Japan and gets some of those reps in those games.

“Personally, I think I’ve put a lot of time and effort to be ready for this situation, but it’s out of my hands,” Shaw said. “I’m going to keep trying to do what I do every day and be consistent. And if I get the opportunity to go, I’ll be overjoyed. If not, that’s just part of the process.”

But for now, the Cubs have eight more spring games before they head overseas, and Shaw will play in at least half of them. But whether or not he can play in Japan is of secondary concern to the team. Getting their much-hyped third base prospect ready for the full length of the baseball schedule is the priority.

“What happens the next eight games, for any player, really half of eight half games, who knows what’s going to happen. It could be a lot, right? Good and bad. It could fool you,” Counsell said. “Really, we want Matt to be healthy, we want Matt to be prepared for a six month season, and today is the first day of that.”