Matt Shaw entered spring training as the Cubs’ No. 1 prospect and favorite to win the starting third base job out of camp. That came to pass despite a late start prompted by a mild oblique issue, and Shaw came out of the gate fairly well with a homer and nine runs scored through his first nine games. Then he picked up just one hit over his next seven games and was sitting at a .172/.294/.241 slash through his first 68 plate appearances, which clearly wasn’t nice.
Rather than allow him to continue to fight through it at the highest level, the Cubs have optioned Shaw to Triple-A Iowa to build back his confidence and regain his power stroke.