MESA, Ariz. — Chicago Cubs top prospect Matt Shaw had two goals entering his first spring game Sunday.
Get at-bats and feel healthy.
The third baseman checked off both when he tallied three hitless at-bats but, most importantly, felt great after playing four innings in the field. Shaw had been sidelined by a left oblique injury since the beginning of camp and had been slowly building up to game action, which culminated with his Cactus League debut Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds.
“It feels amazing to get back out there and just to play baseball,” Shaw said afterward. “I mean, that’s what we all look forward to so it was a lot of fun to be back out there.”
Shaw handled the only ball hit his way, catching a popup in foul territory to record the first out of the game. The Cubs aren’t ready to make a decision yet on whether Shaw will travel to Japan and be part of the opening day roster. With roughly a week to go until the Cubs head overseas following their March 11 game, there is a small window for their in-game evaluations of Shaw.
“This is a hard one because it’s short and that’s going to make this different,” manager Craig Counsell said Sunday. “We’re going to kind of jump to the first thing we see and the positive or the negative — Matt Shaw is going to be a good major-league player for the Chicago Cubs, that’s the evaluation I’m making. But what happens the next eight half-games for any player, who knows? It could be a lot, good and bad, that could fool you.
“Really, I want Matt to be healthy, I want Matt to be prepared for a six-month season and today is the first day of that.”
Shaw will have a traditional spring build up, meaning he’ll initially have an off day after he plays in a game. As much as he wants to be out there during this upcoming stretch, Shaw knows he must let his body adjust and recover. Shaw sounded confident that being good to go for Japan remains a realistic goal.
“Personally, I think that I’ve put a lot of time and effort to be ready for this situation, but it’s out of my hands,” Shaw said. “So I’m going to keep trying to do what I do every day and be consistent. And if I get the opportunity to go, I’ll be overjoyed. And if not, that’s just part of the process. So just keep rolling.”