The waiting game ended on Sunday for Chicago Cubs third baseman Matt Shaw, as he finally made his eagerly anticipated spring training debut in a 7-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
Shaw batted second and played in the field at third base. He went 0-for-3 before he was removed from the game.
In his first at-bat he grounded out to shortstop Edwin Arroyo, who threw him out at first base, where former Cubs third baseman Jeimer Candelario was stationed for the day.
In the third, Shaw removed the middle man and grounded out to Candelario at first base.
The fourth inning, he got his final at-bat and popped out to — who else — Candelario at first base.
Shaw was able to make contact during all three at-bats even if none of them led to hits. He left the game in the fifth and Parker Shavers took over for the rest of the game.
Shaw told Marquee Sports on Friday that he felt great and that he was eager to get into the lineup to gear up for the regular season.
His move into the lineup was delayed a bit after he suffered an oblique injury right before spring training. Chicago chose to be cautions with the player it hopes will be the answer at third base on opening day after swinging and missing on other options, most notably Alex Bregman in free agency.
The Cubs also traded third baseman Isaac Paredes and future third base option Cam Smith to the Houston Astros for outfielder Kyle Tucker.
If he is not ready for the regular season opener in Japan later this month, the Cubs could turn to veteran utility man Jon Burdi or Vidal Bruján, both of whom have experience at the position.
Shaw was named the Cubs’ farm system’s player of the year, as selected by Baseball America, for his performance in 2024.
For 121 games, Shaw had a slash line of .284/.379/.488/.867 with 21 home runs and 71 RBI playing at Double-A Tennessee and Triple-A Iowa.
He also played in the MLB Futures Game, which was part of All-Star weekend.
When the Cubs took the right-handed hitting Shaw out of college with their first-round pick in July of 2023, they sent him to the minors immediately and he responded by batting .357/.400/.618/1.018 in 38 games with eight home runs and 28 RBI.
