Chicago Cubs Top Prospect Dealing with Oblique Injury Early in Spring Training

Chicago Cubs top prospect Matt Shaw is reportedly dealing with a nagging injury at the start of spring training.

Per Bob Nightengale of USA Today on social media:

Cubs prized third base prospect Matt Shaw is dealing with an oblique issue but the Cubs don’t believe it’s serious and is day to day.

Cubs prized third base prospect Matt Shaw is dealing with an oblique issue but the Cubs don’t believe it’s serious and is day to day.
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 14, 2025

It's certainly good to hear that, but oblique issues are always taken seriously, as they often keep players out for several weeks at a time.

After the Cubs traded away Isaac Paredes this offseason, Shaw has the inside track at the starting third base job this year.

He is ranked as the No. 19 prospect in all of baseball, per MLB Pipeline. He would pair with Kyle Tucker and Dansby Swanson in the middle of the Cubs order.

A first-round pick in the 2023 draft out of Maryland, Shaw is a .303 career hitter in the minor leagues. He has just 35 games of Triple-A experience under his belt, but he did hit .298 in those 35 games last year with seven home runs.

The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:

Growing up as a Red Sox fan, Shaw modeled his game after similarly sized Dustin Pedroia and balances aggression and discipline just like the four-time All-Star did, repeatedly barreling balls despite an effortful right-handed swing. He manages the strike zone well and uses the entire field. His bat-to-ball ability allows him to get to most of his plus raw power and it plays from foul pole to foul pole.

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