Minor League Player Spotlight: Cubs' Matt Shaw
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The way Matt Shaw sees it, getting through the grind of the baseball season is all about building momentum each and every day. Show up to the park, stay focused, and get a little better each time out.
If last week is any indication, the rest of the league may be hoping he pumps the brakes a little bit, because MLB's No. 41 overall prospect looked like a runaway locomotive.
Shaw was the Minor League Player of the Week in the Southern League after batting .428 with four home runs and nine RBIs, accounting for 22 total bases, over six games between June 17-23 for Double-A Tennessee.
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"Obviously in the season there’s ups and downs," Shaw told MLB Network's Erika Wachter. "There’s always going to be adjustments going on, so me and all the guys, we’re all going through the same thing. We’re all trying to grow and get better and play in the Major Leagues, and it’s no easy thing to do. So, we’re always communicating, we’re always working with each other. But, I think you just try to keep gaining momentum and put in those good days, one after the other. I think that’s something that I started to do a little bit more of here down the last few weeks."
Shaw entered the week red-hot with six hits over his previous four games, but found another gear -- putting together a career performance on Sunday against Mississippi. The third-ranked Cubs prospect mashed his second multihomer effort of the season while driving in a career-best five runs for the Smokies.
"There’s always an adjustment in playing every day, which is difficult, but you know I think that one of the big adjustments is really that you feel so relaxed and you get so comfortable that sometimes that can lead to bad habits," Shaw told Wachter. "You kind of always have to look at yourself and have that awareness to be like where am I at right now? How am I feeling today? Being able to kind of re-adjust and get a little bit more locked in on day to day things."
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The 22-year-old is slashing .251/.361/.428 with 10 home runs, two triples, nine doubles, 35 RBIs, 43 runs scored and 19 stolen bases through 68 Southern League games this season. But, he has come on of late, batting .289 while posting a .901 OPS with five dingers and 14 RBIs over 22 games in June. Proving that he might be an option as the next-man-up if the Cubs need help in the infield at Wrigley.
But the Maryland product is not thinking that far ahead just yet.
"As much as you can look at it from an outside perspective, and see that guys are close, the daily grind of the Minor Leagues is not all that glamourous. So sometimes you can forget where you’re at," Shaw said. "You’re grinding every day, you’re at different places, different hotels, traveling on buses. So you definitely can forget how quickly something can change. But I think that helps you stay present in the day to day, like, I’m here, I’m playing baseball, I have a lot of great friends on this team.
"So, you know, just staying present, staying in the moment, enjoying it ... I think we do a really good job of enjoying it every day."
Shaw will also be appearing in this year's MLB All-Star Futures Game on July 13 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
"It’s going to be amazing," he said. "Obviously something I look forward to, me and some of the other really really awesome players. Two of our other players in Triple-A are coming with us -- Owen Caissie and (Moises) Ballesteros -- so it should be a great time."