Nico Hoerner, Matt Shaw on target for Cubs’ Opening Day

MESA, Ariz. — The projected infield for the 2025 Cubs includes Nico Hoerner at second base and Matt Shaw at third. A month from the domestic opening day on March 27 against the Diamondbacks, both players are on target to be on the active roster. But both of them are still recovering from their respective injuries, which will keep Hoerner from playing in Japan and has kept Shaw out of Cactus League action thus far.

Hoerner, who is still recovering from surgery on his right flexor tendon in October, is not going to make the trip to Japan to play in the Tokyo Series against the Dodgers on March 18 and 19, staying behind in Arizona so he can play in minor league games. He is not on track to be healthy enough to play in Tokyo, so sending Hoerner on that trip would have cut into his opportunities to remain active and work toward being ready for March 27.

“He can’t play in games there,” manager Craig Counsell said of the series in Japan. “And he needs at-bats, he needs to play. At that point, he needs to be a baseball player, and the trip just does not allow for him to do that the proper way.”

In the short term, that means Vidal Bruján and Jon Berti will still get time at second base, and one or both will see action at that position as the season opens in Tokyo. But beyond that, their value to the Cubs will be in their defensive flexibility.

“Those guys are both second basemen; we’re not introducing a new position to them. They will continue to prepare at every position because over the long haul that’s more important,” Counsell said.

As for Shaw, he has been sidelined with an oblique injury since the first week of February, but he is expecting to return to spring training game action as early as Sunday, when the Cubs play the Reds at Sloan Park.

Shaw told Marquee Sports’ Bruce Levine on Thursday that he expects to start playing in the next few days with “no hesitation or restrictions.”

This is good news, as it increases the likelihood that Shaw will be ready to be on the Opening Day roster on March 27, a plan that has been in place since the offseason. And unlike Hoerner, there is still the possibility Shaw travels with the team to Tokyo and plays in that series.

“Nothing is off the table with Matt [Shaw],” Counsell said Thursday. “His first game is trending towards this weekend, so we’re not at a point to make any decisions on [the Tokyo series].

“He is getting healthy, essentially, and playing in games. Sunday is the day we’re targeting for.”

Both Hoerner and Shaw’s injuries can impact them at the plate — to some degree that was a clear factor in Hoerner’s dip in offensive production last season — but the progress they have made in their work in the batting cages is pointing toward fully healthy returns on offense.

Hitting coach Dustin Kelly said both players are operating under mostly normal parameters in the cage; Hoerner and Shaw are both under a swing count, but it’s not one that is markedly different from standard procedure.

“That’s all normal, it’s not prohibitive in any way,” Kelly said of the swing counts. “We’re just trying to make sure that we ramp them up and get them to where they’re trying to get to at that time.

“Both of them are in awesome spots. Nico has been incredibly understanding with what we’re trying to do with him, knowing that we can’t go too much mechanics with him right now because we’re trying to make sure he’s healthy.”

With Shaw’s oblique injury, Kelly said they will closely monitor how he feels. There have not been any issues so far, but Kelly said the team would not hesitate to shut him down if Shaw starts to feel anything in his oblique.

Both Hoerner and Shaw can avoid being placed in the injured list, even if they are not going to be active for the games in Japan. Typical roster construction rules don’t all apply for those games; teams can take up to 31 players and use a normal 26-man roster for both games, but players like Hoerner and Shaw can remain on the team’s active roster but not take up a spot for the Tokyo series. So even with them both technically active come March 18, the Cubs would not be playing shorthanded in Japan.

This is league practice for these mid-March games because it keeps teams from being at a disadvantage. Forcing the Cubs to place either player on the IL for the Japan games would keep Hoerner and/or Shaw from being eligible to come off before the March 27 beginning of the season in the United States.