The Chicago Cubs had a great stretch in the early 2010s drafting position players in the first round that all had varying success in the major leagues and now 2023 first rounder Matt Shaw is showing signs that he might be the next star at Wrigley Field.
The 21-year-old shortstop is already a star in the minor leagues, where he has made easy work hitting against pitching at Advanced A-Ball with the South Bend Cubs. After the Cubs selected Shaw with the 13th overall pick out of Maryland and signed the right-handed hitting infielder to a bonus worth nearly $5 million, he was sent out to play in the Arizona Complex League. Shaw played in three games down in the desert, went 4-for-8, with a homer and that was all the Cubs needed to see before they assigned him to the South Bend Cubs.
In his first at-bat in the Midwest League, Shaw banged a triple to center field.
On Sunday, Shaw homered for the second time in a South Bend Cubs uniform that followed back-to-back 3-hit performances.
In nine games at A+ Ball, Shaw is 14-for-37, with 2 HR, 2 triples, 2 doubles, 2 walks, 8 RBI, 7 R, slashing .378/.410/.703.
You obviously love that opposite field power, but that wasn’t even the most impressive swing from Shaw on Sunday. South Bend was playing the remainder of a suspended game against the Lake County Captains and Shaw ripped a single to left field. Nice, another hit, but not just any hit. Shaw crushed the pitch, with an exit velocity of 112mph.
I know that some fans may not care about exit velocities, but that is getting up to elite level from any hitter in pro ball.
Shaw won 2023 Big Ten Player of the Year, as he posted a 1.142 OPS in 62 games. He has not slowed down at all and if he keeps up this pace at South Bend, then there is a legitimate chance that Shaw ends the 2023 minor league season at Double-A with the Tennessee Smokies.
Following the draft in July, The Athletic’s prospect expert Keith Law released his top-60 prospects list. Shaw, who at that point still had not made his pro debut in the Cubs minor league system, was ranked 55th.
At the beginning of August, Baseball America revealed its updated top-100 prospects list and Shaw made it at No. 90. MLB Pipeline also updated its top-prospects list this month, but Shaw was left off.
However, MLB Pipeline’s Jonathan Mayo knows Shaw will eventually crack their top-100.
The Cubs currently have five players on MLB Pipeline’s top-100 prospects list.
