In a more perfect world, the Chicago Cubs would have made Matt Shaw go out and win a job in spring training, just as the White Sox did this spring with shortstop Colson Montgomery.
But Shaw’s left oblique injury at the start of camp set the rookie back, and he played in only six Cactus League games before the team left for Japan on Tuesday for next week’s season-opening series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in Tokyo.
Nevertheless, Shaw was officially made part of the traveling group before the game, which meant he “made the plane,” and probably the opening day roster. Barring a setback, he’ll be added to the roster next week and make his major-league debut March 18 in Japan.
Montgomery, meanwhile, also missed time this spring with back spasms. But his dream moment will have to wait a little longer. Montgomery went 1-for-9 in Cactus League play and was optioned on Tuesday to Triple-A Charlotte, where he ended last season with a .214 average in 130 games.
Both prospects are former first-round draft picks who should have bright futures. But winning a job in spring training is always a crapshoot, no matter your resume.
At the start of camp, I asked Montgomery about his chances.
“Everybody is a little anxious,” the 23-year-old said. “If you want to be the best, you’ve got to envision yourself at the big-league level. Of course I want to see myself (on the opening day roster), but also there are a lot of really good players competing for jobs, so I’m going to respect whatever decision they have and do whatever I can to help the team win.”
Despite his early injury, Shaw was able to show the Cubs what he had in limited playing time. It was just a matter of staying healthy.
“He’s obviously come back, proven healthy and played well,” Cubs president Jed Hoyer told reporters Tuesday in Mesa, Ariz. “That really was what went into the decision.”
Shaw’s promotion to the big leagues was in doubt until Hoyer failed to sign free agent Alex Bregman, leaving the rookie who received a nonroster invite as their best option. The Cubs need to clear roster space to add Shaw to the 40-man roster before opening day.
Last year the Cubs handed third base to Christopher Morel, who couldn’t handle the job defensively and was dealt to Tampa Bay at the trade deadline. Two backups, Nick Madrigal and Patrick Wisdom, were both let go after the season, and Isaac Paredes, acquired in the Morel trade, was sent to Houston in the Kyle Tucker deal.
Shaw’s talents have been on display since his freshman year at Maryland. He was the No. 13 pick of the Cubs in the 2023 draft, and was named Southern League MVP last year at Double-A Tennessee. Sports writing legend Peter Gammons called Shaw the best player he’s ever seen in the Cape Cod League, and the two formed a strong bond over the years.
“I don’t know if I adopted him or he adopted me,” Gammons said last year in Cubs camp.
Still, the Cubs have a storied history of third base prospects who left camp with great expectations, including Gary Scott and Kevin Orie, two kids who tore it up in the Cactus League but never hit consistently in the majors.
When Scott arrived at Cubs camp in 1991, legendary third baseman Ron Santo told the Chicago Tribune’s Jerome Holtzman: “He can’t miss, he’s got it right here.” Santo pointed to his head, and then pointed at his stomach, adding: ”And he’s got it here — in his gut. A great attitude and great instinct.”
Scott made the team out of spring training after batting .366 with 30 hits, including nine doubles, in 82 at-bats. Two weeks into the Cactus League games, manager Don Zimmer announced: “Gary Scott’s starting opening day in Chicago.”
But Scott hit .162 through mid-May before being demoted to the minors. He batted .156 with the Cubs the following season, and never made it back to the majors.
Orie was handed the starting job at third base before spring training in 1997, joining veterans Ryne Sandberg, Mark Grace and Shawon Dunston in the Cubs infield. The reminders of Scott’s flop were everywhere that spring, but Orie hit .338 with 15 RBIs in the Cactus League, living up to the hype.
But the Cubs lost a National League record 14 straight games to start the ’97 season, and Orie was one of many starting players who struggled. He wound up playing four seasons with the Cubs and Florida Marlins before retiring.
The one “can’t miss” third base prospect who didn’t manage to make the team out of spring camp was Kris Bryant in 2015, despite hitting .425 and leading the majors with nine home runs. President Theo Epstein said Bryant needed to work on his defense, though everyone knew it was a financial decision to delay starting his service time clock.
Bryant was called up quickly and earned NL Rookie of the Year honors, then helped lead the Cubs to the 2016 World Series title. Shaw doesn’t have the burden of being hyped like Scott, Orie or Bryant, which could be to his advantage.
Montgomery has been touted as the Sox’s top hitting prospect for the last few years, so the spring demotion was a setback. In August 2022 he was part of the “Project Birmingham” plan, a concept in which a pool of top players from the Sox’s two Class A affiliates were promoted to the Double-A team in Birmingham.
Montgomery, third baseman Bryan Ramos, outfielder Wilfred Veras and pitcher Sean Burke were among the prospects the Sox hoped would jell together on their way to the major leagues. The idea was to create a kind of development stage akin to the alternate site used during the COVID-19 season in 2020.
Chris Getz, then assistant general manager/player development, said at the time it was “a chance to show baseball and show the White Sox that we’ve got another wave of players coming.”
After two-plus seasons, the Sox should now be reaping the rewards of “Project Birmingham,” but the wave has yet to arrive. While Montgomery was optioned to the minors on Tuesday, Ramos was recovering from elbow soreness and is 2-for-9 this spring. Veras was 1-for-12 in 8 games and reassigned to minor-league camp last Friday.
Burke appears to be the best of the lot, making three strong starts in a September call-up last year and looking like a good bet to make the 2025 rotation.
A few weeks ago at camp I asked Getz, now the GM, what had been gained from Project Birmingham, which received a ton of publicity during an otherwise dismal Sox season.
“It’s tough to tell if we really got the benefit as much as we did at the alternate site,” Getz said. “But obviously I love the idea. I know going in it that it wasn’t going to be something that we’d necessarily be able to replicate every year. It just happened to work well with Double A, with that development group. It was an opportunity to be creative, think outside the box.”
So did it work?
Getz believes it did.
“It’s tough to connect the dots on whether that particular project helped Colson in his development,” he said. “Colson obviously is a very skilled player. Who knows if he wasn’t part of that and how it affected him? Looking back I’m glad we did it. I know the feedback we received from our players was positive.”
Montgomery will likely get his opportunity to play in the majors this year, but he’s going to have to start producing consistently to make it happen.
Nothing is given in this game, even in a rebuild like the White Sox’s.
