Matt Shaw Optioned to AAA Iowa, Vidal Bruján Reinstated from IL

Matt Shaw entered spring training as the Cubs’ No. 1 prospect and favorite to win the starting third base job out of camp. That came to pass despite a late start prompted by a mild oblique issue, and Shaw came out of the gate fairly well with a homer and nine runs scored through his first nine games. Then he picked up just one hit over his next seven games and was sitting at a .172/.294/.241 slash through his first 68 plate appearances, which clearly wasn’t nice.

Rather than allow him to continue to fight through it at the highest level, the Cubs have optioned Shaw to Triple-A Iowa to build back his confidence and regain his power stroke. Vidal Bruján is being reinstated from the IL to take Shaw’s place on the roster, and the Cubs made a number of other roster moves we’ll cover in a separate piece.

Acquired from the Marlins in exchange for Matt Mervis over the winter, Bruján got off to a hot start in spring training and showed the ability to play multiple positions before being placed on the IL. He was 4-for-13 with a double in his rehab stint with the I-Cubs, striking out four times with no walks. Now he gets a chance to make Cubs fans forget about the fact that Mervis has a 187 wRC+ with five homers in his last six games.

Shaw showed tremendous patience, walking at a 14.7% clip that put him in the 86th percentile among MLB hitters, but all of his other offensive numbers were various shades of blue on Baseball Savant. His 22.5% hard-hit rate and 82.7 mph average exit velocity were particularly worrisome, indicating that he was having a tough time pulling the trigger. That high walk rate may have been as much a function of indecision as anything.

Now Shaw gets a chance to get his timing back in a low-pressure environment so he can come back to help the Cubs down the stretch.