Let's not jump the gun when it comes to Cubs' Justin Turner working out at third

Things are moving in the right direction with rookie Matt Shaw. We'll get our first look at the team's top prospect soon after the Chicago Cubs cleared him for an oblique injury that's slowed him down in the early going this spring.

But with some degree of caution still surrounding Shaw and fellow infielder Nico Hoerner, who won't travel with the team to Japan for the Tokyo Series, Justin Turner has been putting in a lot of work at third base, adding another layer to the team's depth at the position with the regular season quickly approaching.

If Shaw isn't ready for Tokyo, there are a few ways manager Craig Counsell could play things. Knowing they'll need to cover second with Hoerner sticking stateside, Vidal Brujan, Jon Berti and/or Gage Workman are all in the mix along with Turner. Really, it depends what Counsell is prioritizing: if he's looking for offensive production, he might be fine riding Turner at third for the first two games of the year.

But if he's looking for defensive, Turner isn't that guy at this point in his career. He hasn't logged serious innings at third in several years now and going with one of the other three would give you a definite upgrade defensively. Berti has been much better against righties than lefties in his career, so he's a good bet for one of the two spots, with right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki set to start the two games in Japan.

All this to say, hearing Turner say he's been putting in a lot of work at third is nothing to panic over. He's setting himself up to be an option there, especially early in the year as the Cubs look to get to 100 percent before March 27, when they open up the full regular season schedule on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Primarily, we're going to see Turner either as a DH or spelling Michael Busch at first (again, though, I'd love to see the Cubs let Busch ride against lefties this year as opposed to going full platoon). Can Turner play third in a pinch? Sure. Is he going to pile up hundreds of innings there as a 40-year-old? Absolutely not. So let's not overreact to the fact he's working out there - if anything, it just shows he's embracing being up for whatever the team needs and leading by example as a key veteran.