For Chicago Cubs, Third Base Defense is Becoming an Immediate Concern

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Alex Bregman never walked through that door. Matt Shaw had to be demoted, and Gage Workman is on the other side of town. The Chicago Cubs are on Plan D at third base, and it shows.

Image courtesy of © Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

 

Ahead of the 2025 season, it wasn't a secret that third base represented an area of concern for the Chicago Cubs. A trade of Isaac Paredes, a failed pursuit of Alex Bregman, and a tossing of the keys to an untested rookie in Matt Shaw certainly had potential to compound into a dangerous situation where roster construction is concerned. 

That something close to the worst-case scenario has played out there and the Cubs have still come out ahead (18-12, so far) qualifies as a minor miracle. The team is not only producing runs at a high enough rate to compensate for the shortcomings of the hot corner, but playing sound defense just about everywhere else. The team's collective Fielding Run Value of 2 ranks 11th in the league, and while the outfield's 5 FRV on their own helps to prop it up somewhat, that they're above-average as a collective speaks to the overall defensive soundness this team has demonstrated early on. 

Especially when you consider that the third base position has been one of the worst. 

Not getting average offensive outcomes out of third base isn't a surprise (or even that big of a detriment). But the Cubs sit 27th in FRV out of the hot corner (-4). That's only a notch above Cleveland, whose -5 mark sits at the bottom of the rankings. There was an argument to be made that Shaw's defense didn't necessarily matter, if the bat came through early on. However, that didn't happen, and with the team now rotating out a collection of light-hitting utility types, the defensive aspect becomes more important. You need value on one side of the ball.

The Cubs aren't getting it. We saw as much on Sunday, when Vidal Bruján misplayed a ball at third with two outs in the 10th inning against Philadelphia. With a quick runner in Trea Turner, he stepped back on a ground ball rather than attacking it. The result was an additional run to give the Phillies a 3-1 edge, which represents a much harder gap to close in a narrow extra-inning affair:

“You can argue up and back whether Bruján could have charged that ball and made a different play … He’s playing way too deep to do that.”@MLBBruceLevine on the play that led to the Phillies’ 2nd run in the 10th. pic.twitter.com/dJCqWsA15H

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) April 28, 2025

Those are the types of things you risk when you don't have a full-time third baseman on the roster. 

Thus far, the Cubs have seen five different players man third base. Shaw got 18 appearances prior to his demotion to Iowa, Jon Berti's at 11, Gage Workman had seven before being cut, and each of Bruján and Justin Turner have appeared there twice. Berti is at -1 FRV, as was Workman before he flipped over to the South Side. Shaw, representing the largest sample (141 innings) checked in at -2.

It's something you can stomach a little more if you're getting offensive production. The Cubs are not. Third base, in total, has posted a 57 wRC+ for them through 34 games. Again, it's hardly a surprise. Unless Shaw popped, you weren't expecting much out of the position. That's why the team wanted Bregman badly, but it's also fair to note that they declined to make a desperate lunge to finish a deal with him. They trusted Shaw, more than they should have.

Given that, we're probably looking at a situation where the Cubs are going to need to prioritize the defensive side a little more. Whether that's giving one of those guys more of a full-time look or looking at external options isn't my call to make. But given Sunday's specific context and the bigger-picture defensive output from the position, it looks likely to keep presenting itself for further discussion.

 

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