Matt Shaw Named Southern League MVP, Double-A All-Star
The accolades keep coming for Matt Shaw, who on Tuesday was named the MVP of the Southern League and also a Double-A All-Star. And that’s after he spent less than three-quarters of the season with the Tennessee Smokies and that dead-ass ball they used there. One day earlier, Baseball America named Shaw the Cubs’ MiLB Player of the Year for his performance across the two highest levels of the system.
He ascended to the top spot in MLB Pipeline’s updated rankings earlier in the summer, surpassing Cade Horton and making it clear that he’s pushing for a spot in Chicago next season. Shaw slashed .279/.373/.468 with 14 homers and a 148 wRC+ over 371 plate appearances at Double-A, then hit .298/.395/.534 with seven homers and a 142 wRC+ with Iowa. Oh, he also stole a combined 31 bases.
The stout infielder should put up even bigger power numbers as he matures into a future scouting grade of 60 in that facet of his game. There are questions about his glove, leading many to believe he’ll end up at second base, but he’s shown flashes of being able to get it done at the hot corner.
For the final @GreatClips Clip of the Week, we had to show you the Clip of the Year one more time! pic.twitter.com/kUsYoMI6bO
— Iowa Cubs (@IowaCubs) September 23, 2024
There’s probably not a path to playing time for Shaw that doesn’t involve a trade or two, so the Cubs have some decisions to make this offseason. Those choices become even more difficult should Cody Bellinger opt to return for the 2025 season. I still lean toward him leaving, but we’ve got several weeks before we’ll know for sure.
The point here is that Shaw is really freaking good and should get the chance to show that to a lot more people next season.