Matt Shaw ‘Ready to Go Back’ After Making Adjustments in Iowa, Moises Ballesteros Pounding on Door

Matt Shaw started his time back in Triple-A going 1-for-17 and looking at least as lost as he’d been in Chicago prior to being demoted. Even after making some adjustments to get back to his natural swing and timing, there were concerns about a lot of grounders and a lack of hard contact. But process is more important than results when it comes to sustainable success, and Shaw appears to be getting back to the right place mentally.

“When he came back, the confidence was down a little bit,” Iowa Cubs co-hitting coach Rick Strickland told Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. “Of course it should be. He’s struggling, right?”

Shaw is hitless over his last two games, but going 12-for-22 with a homer and three doubles over his previous six is a sign that he is back to being himself at the plate. My biggest issue from his time in the bigs was that he was taking too many early strikes, which put him in holes that he tried to battle out of by guessing. That was partly a function of having sped himself up in the offseason to account for higher velocities in the majors, but the downstream affect was that it screwed up his sequencing.

Shaw looked to have narrowed his stance a little and may have been over-striding, which led to his head moving a little too much and his load being too light. That can all be a tricky ouroboros to undo because the cycle of mental and physical factors feed into one another with no discernible beginning or end.

“We definitely looked in and took some things that maybe he was doing differently in his move — maybe causing himself to be a little bit off-balance in his swing, but just getting him back to being grounded and being a really good athlete that he actually is,” Strickland explained.

Jon Berti has done a decent enough job keeping the seat warm for Shaw at the hot corner, maintaining a 103 wRC+ and passable defense. But the 35-year-old isn’t the future at the position, and the Cubs have acknowledged that Shaw is still their best option moving forward. They would like to give him as much runway as possible in Iowa to ensure he’s able to make a smoother transition, but a promotion might not be far off.

“He’s ready,” Strickland said. “He’s ready to go back.”

Speaking of players who are ready, how about a guy who leads the International League with a .381 average while boasting a 1.003 OPS with four homers despite being 5.6 years younger than his average competition? Moisés Ballesteros just saw a 19-game hit streak come to a close on Sunday, and it’s looking more and more like he’s got nothing left to learn in Iowa. But even if he keeps knocking on the door and ringing the bell like a college kid soliciting pest-control services during summer break, there’s still no room for him in Chicago.

Ballesteros has played 18 games at catcher, where Jon Berti and Miguel Amaya form the most potent combination in the NL. Serving as the designated hitter would be an option if not for Seiya Suzuki‘s 157 wRC+ and team-leading nine homers. First base would be the position of last resort even if Michael Busch wasn’t playing like a potential All-Star, as Ballesteros has only played there nine times in the last two seasons.

Then there’s the matter of opening up a 40-man spot for him, which can only come by designating someone for assignment or placing an injured player on the 60-day IL. That still isn’t enough, though. Say the Cubs part ways with Vidal Brujan once Shaw is promoted back to Chicago. Are they going to let Mo Baller wither away on the bench with seven plate appearances every three weeks? Of course not.

Based on how things currently stand, it would take a very significant injury to the “right” player in order for the Cubs to call Ballesteros up. That’s tough when you look at what he’s doing in Triple-A, but knowing he is positionally limited and won’t turn 22 until November adds a lot of context. As long as he keeps raking, he’ll eventually carve out a spot somewhere.