Matt Shaw to Join Chicago Cubs (Again) This Week; Nicky Lopez Departs

[Matthew Trueblood]

Image courtesy of © Matt Marton-Imagn Images

Yes, Matt Shaw hit four home runs in two games over the weekend. No, that is not why Shaw is coming back to the Cubs. Yes, he made some subtle but important mechanical adjustments during a one-month stint with Triple-A Iowa, during which he hit .286/.409/.560. No, that's not why Shaw is coming back to the Cubs. It's pretty simple, really: the Cubs just can't not try something new.

As expected, Justin Turner is too decrepit to play third base in the majors at this point. (Despite a couple of thrilling flashes, he doesn't even look like he can hit in the majors anymore—but to whatever extent he can, he'll have to do so as a DH and/or backup first baseman.) As expected, Gage Workman's toolsy, loud spring training gave way to a regular season in which his bat made only whatever noise the wind makes. Much less expected, though, was Workman's utterly untenable glovework at the hot corner, and the fact that Jon Berti looks so out of position at third. Vidal Bruján was never likely to be good, exactly, but he's been surprisingly bad. Berti's bat is the kicker: Since May 2, he's 1-27, with seven strikeouts and only one walk. He was caught in his only attempt to steal a base during that timeframe.

Workman is long gone, but Turner, Bruján and Berti will stick around, at least for now. The final impetus for Shaw's recall came when the team resigned itself to the fact that none of those three or Nicky Lopez would be able to stabilize the position. Lopez, always a glove-first guy and better cast up the middle, didn't play nearly good enough defense to make up for hitting a punchless 1-22 during his stint on the roster. It's he who will be jettisoned to make room for Shaw.

Jason Ross did a fantastic job spotting the small changes Shaw has made since his demotion, and the numbers do look pretty. Color me unconvinced. I was skeptical of his leg kick even before he made his debut, and seeing how badly he struggled not only to be on time—that's the kind of thing one can easily fix—but to generate any meaningful amount of bat speed confirmed those concerns for me. It would be fair to hope that more distance from his oblique strain in February could unlock more swing speed, but it's worth noting that he only trended downward before going to Iowa.

He's back not because he's swinging so much faster now (we don't have access to swing speed for the minor leagues, but his bat doesn't look any faster), but because all of the alternatives have proved themselves unable to top him—if not in raw bat speed, then in the utility thereof.

The extra month of reps at third base should give us slightly better hope for his defense, which was disappointing in its own right on his first go-round. If he can merely bat ninth and make all the plays at the hot corner, that will be enough to help the Cubs. It might still not be the best thing for his development, because while his swing works against Triple-A pitching, it still doesn't look like one that will work in the majors. An overhaul is needed, but generally, such things must happen during the winter. The Cubs should have been more proactive with him last offseason, but the time for that has passed. They now need him merely to shore up the position, even if it's only defensively.

His offensive floor and ceiling are each better than those of Lopez and Berti. Turner can't play third, and Bruján has not earned the team's trust in any facet. Shaw is left as the best of a bad set of options. Hopefully, he turns a corner after all, and they never need to think about this again. It's more likely that the team is shopping for help at third base this July, but before trying that, they'll give a second look to one of their best prospects (if that's still his rightful status).

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