Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Matt Shaw needs at-bats to get better, but how will he get them?
13 Feb 2026
Chapter 1: What are the expectations for Matt Shaw's playing time with the Cubs?
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Shaw hit 13 homers this year. He hits a line drive into shallow center. A base hit. Rounding third and scoring is Kelly.
Chapter 2: How did Matt Shaw perform in the previous season?
Cubs lead 4-0. Matt Shaw with a base hit into center. Dansby Swanson claps his hands as he looks over at Shaw at first base. Cubs lead by four and the crowd is loving it.
That, of course, courtesy of the Cubs radio network, Pat Hughes, Ron Coomer on the call. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody on 104.3 The Score. And just a week from today, we have a game. We have a game to talk about. Such a nice idea.
I don't know how much we're going to talk about that game because you know what those games look like out of the gate.
Here's some person you don't know pitching against some person you don't know batting. And then you've got to figure out who these people will be in the search for the next Gage Taylor Workman.
Why you got to bring up Gage?
Because that's what spring training is. It's a search for that type of dude.
So do you put stock in spring training or do you not? Because that's the battle.
I do because I believe in having, you're not going to end the season with the same 40 guys you start with. So I'm a big believer in figuring out who's going to be a part of that scene altogether. I'm a big believer in knowing who's your glad-I-called-that-guy guy, for example, who is going to pop, who brings value to your team.
There are some emergencies that can happen in spring training, and you just want to see how people get their legs underneath them and what happens next.
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Chapter 3: What factors influence a player's performance during spring training?
Craig Council had said that it's not a top three problem for him, Shaw being in right field. That's not top three priority list.
So it's number four.
That's it. I'm like, well, okay, if it's in your top five, that's kind of still a big deal. Even if it's in your top ten, given how you work as a manager, that seems important to me.
Knowing what we know, which is very limited because we haven't seen Matt Shaw at all these different positions, would it surprise you if Matt Shaw played a better right field than Seiya Suzuki?
No, because I think it speaks to his physical tools when you talk about how he was able to play such good defense at the hot corner. I think you have to have a cannon in right field, as we've discussed. Fernando Tatis is probably the biggest example of somebody successfully going from the infield to the outfield recently later in his career. Shaw's way younger now.
So when you put that all together, I think that that gives you an indication it's a good possibility. But it's also trying to figure out when Jed Hoyer talks about the totality of the season, one of the big factors for the totality of their success was Seiya Suzuki leading Major League Baseball and RBIs at the break. So what's Seiya Suzuki's best version of himself?
In a contract year, by the way. But what's Seah's best self look like? And you and I were discussing this. Does Matt Shaw playing in right field come at the expense of Seah Suzuki getting fielding reps that he thinks helps his offensive game?
I don't know what Matt Shaw looks like as a DH or a right fielder. I do know what he looked like as a third baseman, and offensively, it simply was not good enough. Hence, going out to get a guy like Alex Bregman. If you thought Matt Shaw could hold it down and produce like Bregman, then maybe you don't. But also, from a culture standpoint, Bregman, I think, was needed.
And I can't wait to see exactly how that plays out over the course of the season. You know, just days in, we've already gotten so many different stories, so many accounts, whether it's Bruce Levine, whether it's Ken Rosenthal. People are chiming in on what people are telling them about Alex Bregman, what his new teammates are telling them.
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Chapter 4: How does Matt Shaw fit into the Cubs' overall lineup strategy?
He should be. But as we've seen, his success has come with qualifiers. You know, it was protection in the lineup from a guy like Kyle Tucker. It was fielding and hitting combined that made him his best self. So now we've got to figure out what the case is there for Matt Shaw as well.
I will say that tail end performance by Seiya Suzuki to end the regular season and even in the postseason, it didn't feel like the Kyle Tucker protection was the catalyst there anymore. Because remember, Kyle Tucker was hurt for part of that. And then when he did come back, Seiya was just doing his thing at that point. He was on a roll.
The problem is, yeah, in a small sample size, Ballesteros has been good.
Chapter 5: What are the implications of Shaw playing different positions?
But it's a matter of how much the Cubs want to invest in Ballesteros anyway. Right.
Well, the problem is he doesn't have a position. That's what puts them behind the eight ball with him. It's like, yes, he can be our DH, but he can't play catcher, which was his position he was brought up as. He's too short, I guess, to play first base. And even if he could play first base, Michael Bush exists.
No, Michael Bush needs to play first base. I'm not doing this again. I'm not dealing with this for another year.
No, no, no. I get it. So then it becomes, would it look like a straight platoon when you're talking about DH with Ballesteros and, of course, Matt Shaw?
Platooning DH to me is the quickest way you get to four pinch hit at bats per game where nobody's doing enough.
Yeah. Understand this. In 2025, 66 plate appearances for Moises Ballesteros. Four of the 66 were against left-handed pitchers. That smells like you're only going to play against righties. Okay, yeah, yeah. And if he only plays against righties, and Matt Shaw only plays against lefties, that is a platoon. Not that Matt Shaw would only play. I'm just saying at the DH position specifically.
Like, if a righty's on the mound, I'm assuming that Ballesteros is DHing.
Well, I mean, and that's it. How do you make it make sense? Because Shaw's okay with being a utility. But I'm just saying, in the window of I want to get this guy regular at bats, that's where I've been coming from with the whole thing.
So if you're trying to get Matt Shaw regular at bats, like I said, I'd be good with two starts a week. Is that regular enough? Or do you need three starts a week? Let's assume there's six games in a week, okay? In an average week, there's six games in a week. And you look at Matt Shaw versus, let's say, right-handed pitchers. And he's only hitting .218 last year against right-handed pitchers.
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