Sunday, April 06

Welcome back to the Cubs Beat newsletter. Jordan Bastian has covered baseball for MLB.com since 2005, including the Cubs since the 2019 season.

PHOENIX -- Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly is still learning how rookie Matt Shaw works and what makes the young infielder tick both behind the scenes and in the batter’s box. Kelly noticed something when comparing what he was seeing in front of him this spring to the many at-bats he watched on video from the last two Minor League seasons.

Near the end of Spring Training, Kelly brought it up in a conversation with Shaw in the cage.

“I was just like, ‘Listen, I haven’t seen you play a ton,’” Kelly said. “‘But when I watch you step into the box in all those videos the last two years, there’s a presence. There’s like a caged animal in there that’s looking for the pitch that you want and looking to drive it. And you’re intentful with what you’re trying to do.’”

In Saturday’s 4-3 win, the 23-year-old Shaw was given the day off from starting, but Cubs manager Craig Counsell called on him in a pinch-hit opportunity against D-backs lefty Jalen Beeks in the seventh inning. Prior to the game, Kelly again discussed the “intent” he wanted to see Shaw take into his at-bats.

Shaw unleashed that “caged animal” Kelly referenced and the result was the first home run of the rookie’s Major League career. Beeks fired a first-pitch fastball at 95.1 mph (per Statcast) to the upper edge of the strike zone. Fresh off the bench, Shaw attacked the pitch and launched it to the first row beyond the left-field wall to give Chicago a 4-1 lead.

“It was an amazing moment,” said Shaw, MLB Pipeline’s top Cubs prospect and No. 19 on the Top 100. “It makes the moment even cooler that we ended up needing that run at the end of the game. It was just a great game overall. Coming in later in the game is unique, but it was really cool.”

After the win, Counsell praised the aggressiveness and intent that Shaw displayed in that moment. The manager added on Sunday morning that going “back to who you are” in the Major Leagues is important for a young player like Shaw.

“Matt’s an aggressive hitter,” Counsell said. “That’s what he’s always been, and that’s what’s going to serve him well no matter what pitcher he’s facing.”

Shaw hit .341 with a 1.142 OPS for Maryland in 2023, when the Cubs took him with the 13th overall pick in the first round of the Draft. He then hit .357 with a 1.018 OPS in his first pro season, soaring to Double-A Knoxville by the end of the summer. In ‘24, Shaw kept his foot on the gas, reaching Triple-A Iowa and setting him up to win the third-base vacancy this spring.

“My balance has been a little bit on the side of passive the first four games,” Shaw said. “Just kind of getting a feel for the big leagues and everything in the environment. But going into that game, my mindset was, ‘I need to step up, be a little more aggressive,’ and kind of take that aggressiveness that I’ve always had into my day to day.

“It showed in that at-bat, and I think it’s something that I’m going to continue to build off, for sure.”

Outfielder Kyle Tucker finished a triple shy of a cycle on Saturday for the Cubs, who have not had a player hit for the cycle since May 9, 1993 (Mark Grace). Which current Cubs player has the most near cycles (one required hit shy of the achievement) for the North Siders?

A. Ian Happ

B. Seiya Suzuki

C. Nico Hoerner

D. Dansby Swanson

Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson belted the first home run of the season for the North Siders a year ago, stealing that particular crown from Ian Happ. On Thursday, Happ connected for a solo homer in the fourth inning against the D-backs, marking the first homer of the 2025 season for the Cubs.

Did Happ enjoy reclaiming his first-homer title?

“Yes, I did,” Happ said with a smirk.

Happ has launched the first home run of a season four times for the Cubs, doing so in 2018 (first pitch of the first game of the MLB season), ‘20, ‘23 and ‘25. Per the Elias Sports Bureau (with a hat tip to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs), only Frank “Wildfire” Schulte (five) has more such homers in Cubs history. Happ is tied for second on this list with Mark Grace and Ernie Banks.

• Swanson’s quick thinking secured a wild final out on Saturday. Read more >>

• Saturday’s win in Arizona included multiple notable moments. Read more >>

• Jameson Taillon diving into what went awry in his season debut for Cubs. Read more >>

• Cubs’ multifaceted offense on full display in stateside opener. Read more >>

• The Cubs' bullpen -- and its 8.34 ERA -- continued its early-season struggles on Sunday. Read more >>

A. Ian Happ

Happ has had 10 games in which he has ended one necessary hit shy of a cycle, marking the most among active Cubs players. Suzuki is next on this list with four such games. Overall, there have been 342 near-cycles since Grace’s milestone game in 1993.

“I’ll tell you, in college, man, we went over every play under the sun all the time. Stuff like that, I’ve visualized, practiced, done a million times. There’s no play that happens that you haven’t visualized or prepared for. I give a lot of credit to [Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin] for instilling that in us, and I’ve just kind of carried it since then and have done it a couple times in my career. It’s always just kind of thinking ahead and just being ready.” -- Swanson, on his highlight-reel defensive play to win Saturday’s game

To subscribe to Cubs Beat, visit this page and mark "Cubs Beat" from our newsletter list. Make sure you're following the Cubs or that they're checked as your favorite team.

View Online

© 2025 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. MLB trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball. Visit MLB.com. Any other marks used herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Please review our Privacy Policy.

You (jordan.bastian@mlb.com) received this message because you registered to receive commercial email messages or purchased a ticket from MLB. 

Please add info@marketing.mlbemail.com to your address book to ensure our messages reach your inbox. If you no longer wish to receive commercial email messages from MLB.com, please unsubscribe or log in and manage your email subscriptions.

Postal Address: MLB.com, c/o MLB Advanced Media, L.P., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.