Jason Ross

Right, but just because they played Nick Madrigal during the years when the Cubs weren't projected to be good at 3b to squeeze value out of him doesn't mean they should essentially keep Ballesteros up to be a LHH who hits against LHP exclusively, either. His development at catcher means far more and they're not asking Turner a ton right now. His best place is in Iowa right now, he's not better than Happ, Suzuki, Turner or Busch so he won't start against RHP very often at all. He had a really good cup of coffee. The Cubs can trust him if an injury to any of the four previously mentioned "better" players get hurt and he can continue to catch and develop in Triple-A. It's win-win.

The Cubs pitching is a bit banged up and short handed but the Marlins are one of the worst hitting teams in baseball, sporting a 93 wRC+. So while the Cubs pitching is a bit rough and Weathers looked pretty good when we last saw him, Taillon is plenty good to give the Cubs 6 good ones against a bad team and the Cubs are good enough offensively to crack Ryan Weathers.

So, the more moving parts the more that can go wrong. If you want a yellow flag on Shaw, a lot of it, IMO, comes back to that. Here's thing thing; outside of this year, he's not really had any extended slumps. He'd struggle a bit at the start of a level, maybe, but he never went 30 days where he was just bad. Maybe he was too good for his levels. Maybe he's more capable of keeping that under control. If you want to explain this away, obliques are there on your hip, which is the connection between "top" and "bottom" and he had issues with his top half, it appears. So maybe this stems from that. Maybe it doesn't, but maybe it does? No one is fully consistent, it's impossible. We'd be robots. But I think with less movement it becomes easier to repeat. We'll see what he does at the highest level more and more. The hope is that he can be funky and be fine. If it isn't, the Cubs have had successes with PCA and Amaya mid-year in fixing swing flaws while going through an MLB grind, so it's not impossible to suggest Shaw could do the same.

Jesse Rogers confirmation. Shaw has been recalled and will meet team in Miami.

Rogers confirmation. Shaw up and will meet team in Miami.

It could have been. But I also dont think a full ST would have necessarily fixed this. It very well could have been oblique related. But sometimes hitters come out of their best swing for a while. Regardless of *why* its clear *something* was off. And that something *appears* to be fixed. And now its very likely based on reports that Shaw will meet the team in South Beach.

Brujan: "if I get a single will you please DFA Lopez instead of me?"

Berti's had far more track record than Brujan or Lopez being good. I would be shocked if the Cubs dumped Berti.

Coupled with the Shaw news, that feels even more likely.

I would think that's a very likely outcome here. The I-Cubs are off tomorrow, and the Cubs are headed directly to Miami. He shouldn't need a rest in Triple-A with a rest coming. However, it's a lot easier to meet the team in Miami tomorrow evening if he's headed out that way already.

Well, we'll probably get our wish soon. Shockingly, Shaw isn't in the I-Cub lineup. With an off day tomorrow for the Triple-A team...wonder why *that* might suggest?

Matt Shaw is not in the Iowa Cubs lineup today. Do with that as please.

I'm probably more bullish on this working, but I'll admit, I'm a fan of weird - it spices up our lives. I find the Rockies decent into utter madness more interesting than I probably should because they're the one team zigging (poorly, they're so poor at everything) when the rest of the baseball world zags in unison. Clearly they're the anti-spice argument. But it's probably why I like my Gary Sheffields, David Justices, and Tony Bautistas. Funky is fun. And Shaw is funky. End result will probably result with him getting more in line with how we envision a good swing going, but I'm really hoping he can stay funky and good. Baseball is more fun that way.

Image courtesy of © Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images If you were hoping that you'd click on this article, open it up and read that Matt Shaw had either changed his setup or gotten rid of his leg kick, then I have bad news for you; he hasn't. Shaw's general batting stance, load, and leg kick are all in a very similar form to what you saw earlier this year in Chicago; there is no massive overhaul underway on those aspects of his swing. If he didn't fix the two things many wanted him to fix, how, then, has he made any changes? The answer is far more subtle, but I think it's quite meaningful. Let's first remind ourselves what Shaw looked like during his time with the Cubs. I've chosen a hit Shaw recorded in a game against the Padres on April 5. Here's a video of the hit in question. Shaw was up 2-1 in the count against Padres starter Nick Pivetta. The pitch is a cutter located belt-high, on the outer third of the plate. Pivetta's cutter does not grade out particularly well based on Stuff+. This is a pitch you'd think Shaw should do damage on. The result? A weak "single" (it's a single in the scorebook, but the 88-mph ground ball had an xBA of .150 on it) to the right side. It was not quality contact, and he was clearly lucky to come away with a positive outcome. TkFkVkJfWGw0TUFRPT1fQUFkWlhBSldVUVFBWGdFSFV3QUhDVlJXQUFBRFZ3TUFWMUlEVXdVQkJsZFNCQWRm.mp4 Weak ground balls were far too frequent during the rookie's first ride of the senior circuit. Shaw is always going to be a bit of a groundball merchant at times; it comes with the territory of a high-contact, aggressive hitter: They can get sucked into swinging at less-than-excellent pitches. It's what you get when you trade power for contact. But this isn't necessarily a pitch Shaw should struggle to hit hard the other way. Let's compare this to a plate appearance the Cubs' youngster took Thursday evening against the St. Paul Saints. Shaw was up to hit in the ninth inning. Saints pitcher Brady Feigl is a long-time Triple-A veteran, as the 34-year-old has been in professional baseball since 2014, even making a few appearances with the Pirates in 2024. He's not a chump, anyway. Feigl started Shaw off with a changeup a bit higher than belt-high, but the same general area as the Pivetta pitch. Like the Pivetta pitch, this one was located on the outer third of the strike zone. Unlike our previous example, though, Shaw deposited the ball into the right-center-field bleachers with a 102-MPH exit velocity, for a walk-off home run. It was his second of the day. Your initial response is likely, "I don't see anything different," and on my initial watch, I didn't see much different, either. He's still got the awkward, toe-in setup (the video from his home run with the I-Cubs gives you a really great side shot in all of its glory). He's still using the same leg kick. The pitch is in the same general area. Feigl isn't Pivetta, but Pivetta's cutter isn't a great pitch. But then I saw it. It's subtle, but it's his front shoulder and the posture of his top half that have changed. Sadly, the I-Cubs feed is not shot in HD, so it's a bit fuzzy, but you can kind of see it if you're looking. There are two small changes here. The first is that he appears, during his leg kick, to remain a bit more upright on the top half. He's staying taller. The second is that the front shoulder is slightly less closed-off, and less tucked in. It's hard to capture in the video above, as the feed cuts very quickly from the side-view to the pitch, but you can really see it on his first home run of the day, below. This home run was also on a pitch on the outer third—a fastball that was actually a ball, according to Statcast. Shaw hit a home run to right on this pitch, as well. Once again, note that the top half remains taller and he's less hunched, but also the front shoulder is in a slightly more open position. What this allows him to do is clear through his top half better and stay through the ball. With a closed-off and tucked-in front shoulder and elbow, it becomes just a bit more difficult to clear on the swing; his own body was acting as a barrier. That forced extra rotation and for him to pull off the ball. With his home runs, and with his shoulder in a slightly more open position to begin with, he wasn't fighting his own top half anymore. Instead, he gave himself a little added flexibility. Look at the point of contact between the two swings. Remember, these are both pitches in the same general area. You can also take note of where Shaw's back side (and where his top half, in general) is. He hits a ground ball against the Padres for a few reasons. His back side isn't able to stay tall and lift the ball, and his entire top half has to rotate more to clear his closed-off front shoulder. On the home run, he's able to stay "outside-in," as an old-hitting coach would say. He doesn't rely as much on rotating his shoulders (or at least, that rotation occurs more organically), and his backside stays in a position where he can lift the ball. This represents a much more subtle change than eliminating a leg kick or changing his stance; baseball is literally a game of inches. Those inches are the difference between a 100-MPH home run to right-center field and a weak topper to second base. They're also how a slump happens. When you're just an inch or two off with your swing, it messes with everything. Not every fix requires a full swing overhaul. Funky can work, as long as the sum of the parts results in good contact. Shaw's swing looks much better. There are times in which he doesn't use the big leg kick, and there are times he does. Friday night, one day after the two homers I highlighted above, Shaw hit two more home runs against the Saints again. This time, he didn't use the kick on either of them. But his first home run was, once again, to the opposite field. It came off former top prospect Tyler Beede, on a cutter. And once again, note the upper body and point of contact: All of this is just a very long way to say; Matt Shaw's swing is back—literally and figueatively. And with his swing back, it's likely we see him back in Chicago sooner, rather than later. The swing feels fluid again, and he doesn't look like he's fighting himself, like he was earlier this year. I expect when he comes back, we'll see a better run from the Cubs' top position-player prospect, because of these very subtle changes. What do you think of Matt Shaw's changes? Do you think these will help the infielder hit better in his second go? When would you like to see him come back? Let us know in the comment section below! View full article

I dont think the White Sox are going to make the playoffs.

Yep. Just did a super deep dive on his mechanics today and article will be up soon. I came to the same conclusion. Upper half a little taller and I think that front shoulder isn't as rolled in.

It's not reduced. He hit 2 home runs yesterday in what looked like a slightly lower kick, but two home runs the day before with the big one. He's always vacillated a bit between the two, but there would be no rhyme or reason for him to reduce the leg kick the day after he hit 2 home runs with a big one. It feels more anecdotal pitcher to pitcher and a timing mechanism than anything. With the Cubs Two days ago. But like I posted with Thaw, look at his front shoulder - it's subtle, but it's not as closed off. He's clearing it better which allows the bat to strike the ball in a better position of the bat path.

His swing was just messed up. Mechanics get a little off. I thought his top half and his bottom half became "undone". They weren't in sync. His front end was coming in before the bottom, and his front side wasn't allowing him to lift the ball - it was staying down because it was in the wrong part of his swing - thus the ground balls. He wasn't clearing his bottom half fast enough. This continued in Triple-A despite the drop in pitching quality - though he showed far improved contact and chase rates than his previous stints in Iowa. Someone seeing the ball well should not be making weak contact. Compare his Iowa Statcast below from his two years: I think those two things are in sync now. So he's clearing it quicker, and his front side isn't on the down swing allowing him to better lift the ball. His LA was all horsefeathered up. Now it's not. If there's one change, I do think he's taking a larger stride. He feels like when his kick his up and coming down, he's wider then he was with the Cubs. But It's hard to tell exactly with camera angles.

] Yesterday, walk off HR. Yesterday leadoff HR. There's no significant change overall. Feels like anecdotal changes based on pitcher more than anything, I think.

Time to get him on a quick ride to Chicago,

I would say he's probably done. He was capping around 80 in Iowa and they'd probably rather get a reliever in a fresh inning versus having to bring someone in if Horton can't finish the inning in 12 or so pitches. He's set up for a W in his Wrigley debut and had a nice last inning. We know W's are dumb stats, but they mean something to the guys still, I think. Let him leave on a high.

He did this a few times earlier this year in Iowa, too, until he really settled in. He'd get ahead, miss a bit too far out of the zone with the slider, and stay a little too much in the zone with the fastballs and guys would hang around. I think it's a bit of over throwing the slider, a bit too confident with the fastball in the zone.