I remember when Anthony Rizzo made his Cubs debut back in 2012, and thinking to myself, huh that batting stance looks a little weird. At the time, Rizzo had 49 lackluster MLB games under his belt with the Padres the year before, but he started to figure things out. Yet, even that batting stance had changed since his Padres’ days and Rizzo continued to tweak it until he settled in and then he never looked back.
Now, Cubs fans are seeing the evolution of top prospect Matt Shaw. The rookie began the 2025 season on the Opening Day roster, but was optioned to Triple-A in April after struggling in 18 games. He slashed .172/.294/.241, and overall was simply not looking like himself at the plate. Too passive and way too many defensive swings.
Shaw spent a little more than a month with the Iowa Cubs before he was called back up on Monday. He was fantastic in his first series back in the big leagues, going 5-for-11, with three doubles and a walk in three games against the Marlins. However, the encouraging part wasn’t just the positive results, but more importantly how he got to them.
Not only has Shaw returned from Triple-A with a slight adjustment to his batting stance, now standing a bit more upright and less hunched over, but he also confirmed that his exaggerated leg kick has been toned down.
We don’t really need to dig too deep into the numbers to notice the difference between Shaw’s first three weeks in the majors and this last three-game series. The confidence is there, he’s driving the ball to the opposite field with authority and is still being pesky at the plate, battling off tough pitches to extend at-bats.
For now it’s the leg kick and standing slightly taller at the box for Shaw. It’s just the beginning of his progression and with his talent Shaw will continue to make adjustments as pitchers adjust to him.
It’s important to note that Shaw’s overall sample size is so small this year. He’s only up to 80 plate appearances with the Cubs and despite the early struggles Shaw currently has a solid .325 OBP.
Shaw and the rest of the Cubs lineup will have a tough matchup this weekend against the Reds. Hunter Greene is returning from the injured list to start on Friday night. The hard-throwing righty has a 2.36 ERA and 0.81 WHIP with 61 strikeouts in 45.2 innings this season. Then, a pair of lefties follow as Andrew Abbott and his 1.80 ERA starts Saturday and Nick Lodolo, who sports a 3.22 ERA takes the ball in the series finale on Sunday.
