Matt Shaw’s formidable outlook for his skilled already has him envisioning a quick observe to Wrigley Field.
The Chicago Cubs chosen the University of Maryland shortstop with the thirteenth total draft decide Sunday.
“My goal is to play in the major leagues, so I wanted to be on a team I thought would move me up and give me the opportunity to kind of fail early and learn to get my footing through playing against really good competition, moving up to Double A and moving up to the majors,” Shaw mentioned Sunday night time. “And for me, the Cubs will do a good job of that and that’s really exciting to me.”
After going the pitcher route within the first spherical three of the final 4 years, the Cubs tapped into the deep school hitter pool for his or her prime 2023 draft decide with their number of Shaw.
Shaw, 21, was thought-about one of many prime school hitters within the draft. He gained the 2023 Brooks Wallace Award because the nation’s prime shortstop and was the Big Ten Player of the Year.
“I’m not going to say that I knew I was going to be the 13th overall pick, but what I did know is that I give myself the opportunity to leave it on the field and do everything I can do to have this opportunity,” he mentioned. “And I don’t assume there was ever a doubt in my thoughts that it couldn’t occur.
“It’s a long process and for me just staying consistent every day from six years ago to now is a reason where I am today. There’s no big jump all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Woah, I can play baseball now.’ It’s like, OK, there’s little things that I can get better at.”
Shaw impressed the Cubs throughout their assembly at MLB mix, one among 20 organizations he sat down with through the occasion. The dialog ranged from his swing mechanics and thought course of to going by means of his each day routine and gaining perception into who he’s as an individual. He described his chat with the Cubs as a straightforward dialog.
The feeling was mutual, and the interplay left a robust impression on Dan Kantrovitz, vice chairman of scouting Dan Kantrovitz, and the Cubs.
“The thing that really stood out to him about Matt to us during these interviews was, going back to how driven he is, how focused he is,” Kantrovitz mentioned. “And then while you begin to double again and discuss as to whether it’s a power coach or his hitting coach or someone from highschool that’s labored with him, the one factor that simply was a continuing theme was how diligent he’s, how diligent of a employee he’s.
“The superlatives that are being thrown around and left and right in terms of just how hard Matt works and you combine that work ethic with somebody that’s already got a pretty impressive level of performance resume under his belt, it ends up being something that’s pretty appealing to us.”
Shaw hit .341 with a .445 on-base share, 1.142 OPS, 20 doubles and 24 dwelling runs throughout his junior season at Maryland. He additionally stole 18 bases and was caught solely as soon as. He confirmed a great strategy and restricted his whiffs, drawing 43 walks in opposition to 42 strikeouts in 62 video games (317 plate appearances).
Shaw described his strategy on the plate as sitting on pitches. With getting thrown loads of offspeed pitches, the right-handed slugger used to attend on that offspeed stuff to assault. However, Shaw realized these offspeed pitches weren’t those he wished to do injury on, prompting an adjustment to looking fastballs and taking offspeed pitches early within the depend.
“And all of the sudden I’m in a 2-1 count instead of a 1-1 or I’m grounding out early,” he mentioned. “So that discipline came from the approach to things and being a little more patient but also having that plan where just because they’re going to throw a slider doesn’t necessarily mean I need to sit on it and hit it.”
The Massachusetts native grew up a Boston Red Sox fan, going to video games at Fenway Park. Shaw is already trying ahead to attending to expertise one other historic ballpark in Wrigley, a spot he’s by no means had an opportunity to go to.
This marks the third time the Cubs have picked at No. 13. They chosen outfielder Tyler Colvin in 2006 and catcher Bill Hayes in 1978. Manny Ramirez (1991), Frank Tanana (1971), Chris Sale (2010), Trea Turner (2014) and Paul Konerko (1994) have the best profession WARs from that draft place.
The Cubs drafted Arkansas right-hander Jaxon Wiggins at No. 68 within the compensation spherical. They acquired that decide as compensation for the Cardinals signing Willson Contreras however misplaced their second-round decide for signing Dansby Swanson.
Wiggins, 21, missed the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgical procedure. The Cubs, although, have been impressed by what he confirmed within the fall and through the 2022 College World Series once they noticed him within the means of scouting — and later deciding on — right-hander Cade Horton with their first-round decide final yr.
Wiggins contains a mid-to-upper 90s fastball that has a great trip up within the zone together with an influence slider and curveball. His curveball improvement stood out to scouts and the Cubs believes, in response to Kantrovitz, “there might be something untapped to explore there, potentially.”
“If we’re fortunate enough to get him into the fold, he’s somebody that we probably really just take our time with, obviously, and make sure first and foremost that health is sort of the driving factor in development initially,” Kantrovitz mentioned.
Here’s a breakdown of the Cubs’ choices within the 2023 MLB draft.
- No. 13 (bonus slot worth $4,848,500): Shortstop Matt Shaw
- No. 68 (compensation decide): Right-hander Jaxon Wiggins
- Round 3, No. 81
- Round 4, No. 113
- Rounds 5-20, No. 149 and each thirtieth decide thereafter
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Source: www.bostonherald.com