On Monday, the Chicago Cubs called up Matt Shaw from Iowa to play third base before their series against the Miami Marlins.
In March, Shaw made his debut in the majors for the Cubs in Japan for their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made 18 game appearances before Chicago sent him back down to Iowa to work on his skills at the plate.
He managed just 10 hits in 58 at-bats, batting .172/.294/.241 with an OPS of .535 with one home run and three RBI.
The Chicago Cubs wanted Matt Shaw to make a change in Iowa
Per Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, the Cubs wanted Shaw to focus on making one substantial change to his batting routine. While Chicago didn’t want Shaw to scrap his leg kick altogether, they did ask him to make it less pronounced in an effort to make better contact with the ball.
“According to a team source, it was a bit of a process to get Shaw fully bought into the change,” Sharma wrote. “His leg kick has long been a part of his mechanics. But the Cubs weren’t asking him to eliminate the movement. Rather, they believed that a less pronounced leg kick would allow him to be on time more consistently and get back to catching the ball out front and driving it in the air.
“The quickest way to get back to the big leagues for Shaw was to make the change and have success doing it. The Cubs had seen it not work for him at the highest level and wanted to see the physical adjustment made before calling him back up. First, Shaw had to get comfortable with the change. And that appears to have happened over the weekend.”
How Shaw has been batting in Iowa
Shaw is batting .286/.409/.560 with an OPS of .970, six home runs, and 14 RBI through 91 at-bats in 24 games in Iowa this season. His bat was hot last week, hitting three home runs in three days, including a leadoff and walkoff home run in an 8-7 win over St. Paul on Friday.
Before Monday’s game, Cubs manager Craig Counsell told Marquee Sports Network that Shaw deserved “another chance” in the majors.
The Cubs hope Shaw’s improved mechanics will mean the team finally has a solution at third base this season. If not, Chicago is “monitoring” the trade market for help in the infield.
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