1 Opening Day lineup change the Cubs should make heading into the regular season

Matt Shaw hitting fifth in the Chicago Cubs lineup this week in the Tokyo Series seemed to go largely overlooked - but is certainly worth noting as the team returns stateside and resets ahead of the domestic opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 27.

The Cubs rookie infielder notched his first MLB hit thanks to some generosity on the part of the official scorer (but I guess that's nothing compared to the league gifting Shohei Ohtani a home run) - but still went just 1-for-9 in the two games against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He looked pretty overmatched, but he wasn't alone in that regard. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki have some of the nastiest stuff in the league and despite the latter's control issues, their arsenals were on full display.

Seeing Shaw hit fifth was somewhat surprising. After all, he has just 159 minor-league games, including only 35 at Triple-A, under his belt since being drafted with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. His hit tool has been widely praised and the general consensus seems to be that it will translate once he adjusts to facing big-league pitching.

Chicago should have its usual starting second baseman, Nico Hoerner, back for the start of the domestic schedule next week, which opens with a four-game weekend set in Arizona, followed by a three-game series against the Athletics in Sacramento. His return could allow manager Craig Counsell to deepen the lineup by slotting Hoerner into the fifth spot and bump Shaw down a spot or two in the process.

Hoerner's elite bat-to-ball skills can be incredibly valuable hitting behind the Cubs' solid first four of Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Kyle Tucker and Michael Busch. Following Hoerner with Dansby Swanson, Shaw, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya or Carson Kelly just feels like a better construction - and it allows Shaw to get his feet under him before he's asked to be a run producer in the middle of the order.

And that's no knock against Jon Berti who, despite a big error in the season opener, rallied to look very good at second and collect three hits on Wednesday. But Hoerner is the guy at second and having him back and at 100 percent after he battled through an injury last year gives the Cubs a big boost on both sides of the ball.

The top priority is taking the pressure off Shaw as he continues to settle in defensively at third base. Like we saw last year with PCA, Counsell prioritizes defense over offense with young players early in the year. I'd be shocked if he didn't follow a similar path and let Shaw go through the bumps and bruises of acclimating to MLB pitching while hitting lower in the order to open the season.