The Spark: Matt Shaw and Owen Caissie's Fearless Commitment to the Cubs' Cause

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Image courtesy of © Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

With fists pumping and the roof ever-raised, Matt Shaw and Owen Caissie, two of the newest, scrappiest Chicago Cubs, have announced their arrival in The Show. In helping their squad stack up wins in this imperative playoff push, Caissie and Shaw are making a statement that they are not a nice story—they're the real deal. It could be time to start getting comfortable with that idea. 

A handful of you are about to roll your eyes at this next line, but with the way they've started out, and Shaw obviously has a considerably larger sample size, Caissie and Shaw are starting out much in the same way Pete Crow-Armstrong did. The outset of Crow-Armstrong's time in the bigs was marked by intriguing defensive prowess, paired with overwhelming offensive struggles. Shaw, who has made some of the more impressive plays at third base we've seen in a long time, struggled too, even earlier this year, but he's evened out remarkably for a rookie. As far as Caissie, he's come in, after the fanbase pined for his call-up, and has been not just a smart, aggressive hitter, but a shot of emphatic positive energy in the clubhouse. 

Towering in the batter's box like a child gazing up at the Hancock Tower, the 6'3 Owen Caissie has an undeniable presence when he steps onto the field. In twenty plate appearances, he's connected on five hits and driven in four runs, most of which came in the recent series versus the Milwaukee Brewers at Wrigley Field. In the immediate aftermath of that series, the Cubs pulled off a sweep against the Angels, while the Crew's underwhelming showing opposite the San Francisco Giants put the North Siders back within shouting distance of the NL Central's top spot. He hasn't played much since that, but manager Craig Counsell has shown he will not hesitate to plug Caissie into consequential situations. The kid absolutely deserves more starts, which, admittedly, with Kyle Tucker returning to form is not likely, but Caissie can do just as much damage as his teammate at third base has shown. 

Every phase of the season has a story, and since the All-Star break, the Cubs' 23-year-old infielder is the club's best-selling tale. Slugging a blistering .408, Matt Shaw is hammering the ball with increasing proficiency and has a Hard-Hit% rate of 29.3%. Arguably, Shaw wasn't laboring to figure things out long enough to have been considered a period of growing pains. The fact that he bats ninth speaks more to how lethal the North Siders' lineup really is, at least when things are clicking. Much like some of his peers on the team, the expectation is that Shaw will come through with a clutch hit when you need it, or at least make the pitcher work a little bit. Already a strong defender and elite runner, Shaw's improved offensive prowess has turned him into exactly the player that made him such an intriguing top prospect.

Let's face it: The playoffs have already started, and the Cubbies are a tough out. A good playoff team possesses attention to detail and unique intangibles that separates them from the other competition. If and when the Cubs punch their official ticket to the dance, Shaw and Caissie are two assets that will only add to that concoction of good baseball on Chicago's North Side.

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