TOKYO — Matt Shaw went through his regular routine Tuesday afternoon.
He fielded ground balls at third base as part of his infield work before taking batting practice, chatting with teammates between rounds. But for as normal as Shaw’s process was during the Chicago Cubs pregame work, everything else presented a unique day for the organization’s top prospect.
Shaw became the 33rd Cubs player to make his MLB debut on opening day before turning 24 years old, the first since Gary Scott in 1991, according to team historian Ed Hartig. Shaw slotted fifth in the order for Tuesday’s opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Tokyo Dome, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a throwing error in the Cubs’ 4-1 loss.
During the pregame festivities before starters were announced on the field, Shaw soaked in the light show while waiting to be announced out of the tunnel.
“It was amazing, that was really, really cool — you try to take in everything the whole time,” Shaw said afterward. “But once the game starts, you’re trying to win a game, so at that point you are pretty locked in.”
The Cubs thought Shaw could quickly move through the minor leagues when they selected him 13th overall in the 2023 draft. Development is rarely linear, but from president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer’s perspective, Shaw impressed by handling his 1½ years in the minors “exceptionally well.”
“He handled each level and did the things we asked him to do,” Hoyer said before Tuesday’s opener. “But you never quite know how that’s going to go. And I do think that this isn’t the end of of the road. This is a wonderful moment for him. It’s pretty cool. … But ultimately this is a nice thing for his scrapbook. It’s fun, but ultimately, it’s about staying here. It’s about performing.
“We’ve seen a lot of guys come up here and they’d had success the minors, and there’s ups and downs, so I think he has the mental fortitude and makeup to handle that, but it gets a lot harder.”
A left oblique issue slowed Shaw at the beginning of spring training, creating a murky timeline for him to the start of the season in Japan. He proved to the team he was healthy and despite being limited to just six Cactus League games and 19 plate appearances, the Cubs believed he was ready.
“Since we drafted Matt, every challenge that really baseball, the Cubs, the leagues he’s been in, that have been in front of him he has thrived in,” manager Craig Counsell said.
“You put a challenge in front of him, he wins the challenge. He has performed everywhere he’s gone. With his pedigree, who knows if a guy is ready, but he’s passed every test and that makes me think he’s ready.”
Shaw isn’t unfamiliar with the Tokyo Dome. He played there in November as part of Team USA’s Premier12 bronze medal-winning squad. That experience at least creates some familiarity playing on the Tokyo Dome turf Tuesday night.
How Shaw has operated behind the scenes has captured his teammates’ attention.
“A lot of times when you get guys that are young and they have a lot of hype behind them, they’re a little standoffish and think that they’ve figured a lot of things out, and he’s the opposite,” veteran infielder Justin Turner said.
“He’s very open. He’s very curious. He wants to learn. He wants to be around guys. He asks a lot of questions, which is great, and you can tell he has a want to be great, and he’s open to doing whatever he has to, to do that.”
