It’s safe to say that Matt Shaw’s big-league career hasn’t gotten off to the start he might have hoped for.
Coming into the season, Shaw was ranked as the number-one prospect in the Cubs organization by MLB Pipeline, and the site still has him as the number 18 prospect in all of baseball. But after just 18 games, the third baseman finds himself back in the minors.
Shaw, 23, slashed .172/.294/.241 for the Cubs in his first 68 plate appearances. Rather than allowing him to work out his struggles against big-league pitching, the Cubs are counting on him to sort himself out at Triple-A, as he was demoted on Tuesday.
In Shaw’s absence, the Cubs have thus far used Gage Workman and Jon Berti as starters at third base.
The polarizing decision has been met with some blowback so far, including former big-league general manager Jim Bowden, who took a shot at the Cubs during a Wednesday appearance on the popular Foul Territory live show.
“These young rookies, they have never faced this pitching in their life,” Bowden said. “And nine innings of it every single night—they’ve never seen it. So you’re going to have to adjust, but give them time. Twenty games isn’t enough. So either you made them make the team before he should have, or you send him out too quick…
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“Look, he’s not going to be a great defender, but he’ll be able to make the routine plays. And I do think he’s going to hit. I just think it’s really disappointing that you send a rookie out after only 20 games. I just don’t like that idea.”
There’s no perfect playbook for handling a top prospect’s transition to the majors. Some come up and light the world on fire at first, then enter slumps. Some slump initially and break out of it with time. And some just keep on slumping until they’re no longer top prospects.
Could Shaw find something in his swing in Triple-A that helps him dominate when he comes back? Absolutely. But sending him down so quickly has to be a shot to his confidence, so it’s easy to see why Bowden (and others) are frustrated.
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