SAN DIEGO — The Chicago Cubs are giving rookie third baseman Matt Shaw a chance to reset and get back on track.
Shaw was optioned to Triple-A Iowa before Tuesday’s game against the San Diego Padres after a slow start to the season. The Cubs activated infielder Vidal Bruján.
The Cubs also put Eli Morgan on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow impingement. Right-hander Nate Pearson was optioned to Triple A.
Left-hander Luke Little and right-hander Daniel Palencia have been recalled.
Shaw, 23, made the opening-day roster as the Cubs’ regular at third base, but their 2023 first-round draft pick hasn’t been able to get into an offensive groove. Even with a hit in the last two games, Shaw is hitting .172 with a .294 on-base percentage, 18 strikeouts, 10 walks, two extra-base hits and a 58 OPS+ in 18 games.
“This is where the growth happens, the growth happens in the struggle,” manager Craig Counsell said Saturday of Shaw. “We have to go through that, like, humans have to go through that to grow.
“It’s part of getting better, and you need to be tested like this to get better, and that’s what’s happening to Matt right now, and he’ll come out on the other side of it in a good place.”
Shaw had shown some defensive improvement at third base, though he committed an error — his fourth of the season — in Monday’s 10-4 loss to the San Diego Padres.