Matt Shaw

Matthew James Shaw

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 185 lb.

• School University of Maryland
• High School Worcester Academy

• Born November 6, 2001 in Springfield, MA USA

BR register page

Biographical Information

Matt Shaw reached AAA his second pro season and has been on Team USA.

Shaw hit .332/.409/.544 with 42 runs and 16 doubles in 45 games as a college freshman. Only Jaxon Hallmark had more hits among Big Ten Conference players and only Paul Toetz had more doubles. In 2022, the sophomore swatted 22 homers and batted .290/.381/.604 with 67 RBI in 60 games. He was 6th in the Big Ten in RBI and second in home runs, two shy of Bubba Alleyne. That summer, he hit .360/.432/.574 for the Bourne Braves, leading in all three slash categories; he was 3rd with 21 steals (in 24 tries). He won the Cape Cod League MVP for his efforts; the last Terrapin to take home the award had been Jim Norris 53 years prior.

As a junior, Shaw put up another dominant season at .341/.445/.697 with 80 runs, 24 homers, 69 RBI, 43 walks and 18 steals (caught once) in 62 games. He led the Big Ten in homers, set the school career home run record and won Big Ten Player of the Year. The American Baseball Coaches Association named him All-American at short. The Chicago Cubs took him 13th overall in the 2023 amateur draft, between Tommy Troy and Kyle Teel, and he signed for a $4.8+ million bonus.

Making his pro debut, he played for the ACL Cubs (4 for 8, 2 BB, 2B, HR), South Bend Cubs (.393/.427/.655 in 20 G) and Tennessee Smokies (.292/.329/.523 in 15 G), having reached AA his first summer as a pro. Entering 2024, he was rated as one of baseball's top prospects; Baseball Prospectus had him at #21 and Baseball America 31st.

He had a busy 2024. In the 2024 Futures Game, he took over for Cam Collier as a the NL third baseman. He was retired by Ben Kudrna and struck out facing Winston Santos. He split the summer between the Smokies (.279/.373/.468 in 86 G) and Iowa Cubs (.298/.395/.534 in 35 G), totaling 78 runs, 21 homers, 71 RBI, 62 walks and 31 swipes in 42 tries. Among Cubs farmhands, he was second in runs (8 behind Jonathon Long), tied Andy Garriola for the most homers, 6th in RBI, 4th in steals and tied Felix Stevens for 6th in walks. Mostly a third baseman that summer, he also played at least 20 games at both middle infield slots. He then made the US team for the 2024 Premier 12. He singled off Puerto Rico's Jonathan Bermúdez his first time up, going 3-for-3 that day when his teammates mustered three hits combined. The next day, he had four hits (a triple shy of the cycle) and drove in 7 against the Dutch national team, taking Pim Vijfvinkel deep. He kept on rolling - two hits and two runs versus Panama, 3 RBI against Mexico and a two-run homer off Venezuela's Mario Sanchez - in pool play, he had gone 11-for-19 with a double, triple, two homers, six runs and twelve RBI. He was 3-for-15 with a double in the super round and Bronze Medal Game, though, to fall back to Earth. He had still batted .412/.500/.706 with 7 runs and 14 RBI in 9 games, while handling 19 chances error-free at the hot corner, playing a key role in the US winning a Bronze. Among the tourney leaders, he tied Jermaine Palacios for 5th in runs, trailed only Chandler Simpson and MVP Chieh-Hsien Chen in hits, tied for 4th in home runs, led in RBI (3 ahead of teammate Ryan Ward) and tied Sabin Ceballos for 4th in OBP. He was named the All-Star third baseman for his performance.