Fifth in the series. Today we look at the Cubs’ newly-anointed utility man.
Matt Shaw is a controversial figure in Cubdom right now. Not for his political beliefs (at this time), but because the signing of Alex Bregman necessarily leads to a change of position for the young man, and because it looks a bit like fan favorite and team leader Nico Hoerner is going somewhere else after this season to facilitate Shaw’s transference to second base, should there be a 2027 season.
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The chance of that is non-zero, but that won’t be our focus.
Shaw had two different seasons in one. His first half was iffy — the entire third base contingent were not very good, and none of them got to midseason, except for Shaw, who took over the spot, made a lot of really good defensive plays, and held his own with the bat. His slash line of .226/.295/.394, with a bWAR of 3.1, isn’t anything to write home about, but it’s leagues better than Jon Berti was turning in.
Indeed his bWAR figure is in the same ballpark as Bregman’s 2025 (3.5 bWAR). Bregman’s numbers were reduced due to injury. Shaw’s were bolstered by his very good second half. Fangraphs, who aren’t as influenced by defensive numbers, awarded Shaw 1.5 fWAR, while Bregman garnered 3.5 fWAR.
We’ll have to see how Shaw adjusts to a utility role. Team management has said that he’ll spend some time in the outfield, which would lead me to think that Kevin Alcántara will be spending the bulk of his time in Iowa, provided that Tyler Austin’s power shows up, which would make Austin the backup 1B/DH, as noted in his profile.
It would not surprise me if Shaw flourishes in that role. He certainly has the speed and athleticism to get the job done. I wouldn’t vote against his chances.