Chicago Cubs Top Prospects: Midseason Top 30 Chicago Cubs Prospects (#5-1)

Number 4

Matt Shaw SS

Age: 21 Years Old

Level: N/A

Joined the organization via: 1st Round Pick in 2023 MLB Draft

2023 Stats: (College) .341/.445/.697 24 HR, 20 2B, 18 SB, 69 RBI, 80 R, 43/42 BB/K

We’ve written extensively about Matt Shaw this year. You can find our thoughts about him prior to the draft here, and our thoughts after he was drafted here. What I can tell you is that we really like Matt Shaw. Not only did the Cubs make the statistically smart choice by drafting the college hitter, they chose a really solid up-the-middle college hitter that should make it to the majors in a short period of time.

The thing you see all the time is “Don’t worry about positions, it’ll work itself out.” That’s true to an extent, but the Cubs have Nico Hoerner locked up through 2026 and have Dansby Swanson locked up well beyond that so it doesn’t appear that there is an easy path playing time at either second base or shortstop in the near future.

When you look at the scouting reports for Shaw there are questions about his arm for third base but there was an interesting argument made on “On To Waveland” the Cubs podcast at the Athletic when they said that as long as his arm is stronger than Nick Madrigal (who was playing a perfectly acceptable third base prior to his injury) then he will be totally fine at the hot corner and most scouts agree that it is.

If we work under the assumption that Shaw has the capability of playing third base defensively then we only need to worry about whether or not the bat will play at the major league level and I don’t see any reason to believe it wouldn’t. He hits for average and hits for power while stealing bases and he’s done it with a wooden bat on the Cape where he was named MVP. 

Shaw is one of the rare names on this list that offers both floor and ceiling. He’s someone that I see as at least an MLB regular and at best an all-star caliber third baseman and he has the ability to start reaching that potential as early as midway through the 2024 MLB season.