Chicago Cubs top hitting prospect Matt Shaw has primarily started at third base and that hadn't changed much since his promotion to Triple-A earlier in August. On Sunday, the 2023 first round pick made a rare start at shortstop for the Iowa Cubs and in the second inning Shaw made an incredible play deep in the hole, ranging to his right and delivered a strong throw to first base to get his man.
Unfortunately for Shaw the play resulted in an injury.
Shaw singled in his first plate appearance on Sunday, but after making that play to end the second inning he was pulled for a pinch hitter in the top of third inning. Iowa Cubs beat reporter Tommy Birch confirmed that Shaw was taken out of the game because of a back issue.
Do not like that for a second.
I mean, your back is probably hurting right now and the last athletic thing you did was reaching for your TV remote. Back injuries for any pro athlete always raise some concern and even the most modest back issue could flare up at any minute.
Hopefully this is a case where Shaw does only need a few days off to rest and he's back in the lineup later this week for Iowa. But man, that was not the update any Cubs fan wanted to see about the franchise's top position player in the minor leagues.
In his last 12 games at Triple-A Shaw posted a .325/.438/.600 slash line with 3 home runs and a pair of doubles with as many walks as strikeouts (7) in 48 plate appearances. Overall with the Iowa Cubs, Shaw has slashed .241/.380/.431, which is good for a 117 wRC+ in 71 plate appearances. Combined with his numbers at Double-A, Shaw has hit 17 home runs and has stolen 28 bases in 103 games this season.
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