ST. LOUIS -- As Matt Shaw rounded first base -- the baseball he had just launched safely deposited beyond the left-field wall and into the visitors’ bullpen at Busch Stadium -- the Cubs rookie clenched both fists and yelled in the direction of his teammates in the dugout.
The two-run homer off Sonny Gray in the fifth inning on Sunday night put Chicago on the board and Shaw hoped the game-tying blast could be a jolt for the offense. It turned out to be the lone breakthrough in a 3-2 defeat to the Cardinals that sent the North Siders to a series loss.
“Usually, I’m pretty even-keeled,” Shaw said. “I definitely let out a little bit of emotion there. But it’s unfortunate how the game ended up, for sure.”
The energy Shaw experienced in the fifth inning was a continuation of his impressive offensive showing since the All-Star break, when the third baseman has not only been one of the Cubs’ best hitters, but one of the top performers in baseball. It is the kind of corner the ballclub felt Shaw could eventually turn as he navigated a sharp learning curve in the first four months.
Unfortunately for the Cubs right now, the personal upswing for the 23-year-old Shaw has coincided with some overall offensive issues of late for the team. Chicago was shut out on Friday and then poured out nine runs on Saturday. In Sunday’s finale, the Cubs only had three at-bats with runners in scoring position, spoiling a quality start from Shota Imanaga.
“We didn’t create enough scoring opportunities,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said.
One arrived in the fifth, when Dansby Swanson hustled up the line to reach safely on an error by Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman. That set the stage for Shaw, who fell into a 1-2 count against Gray, but then received an elevated sweeper in the zone. The rookie hammered it, delivering his homer that pulled the game into a 2-2 tie.
“He’d been pitching really, really well up to that point,” Shaw said. “And we hadn’t really gotten much going. So, it really felt like a huge part of the game.”
The home run was Shaw’s ninth of the season, but seven have come since the All-Star break. With his outburst on Sunday night, the Cubs third baseman is now batting .328/.349/.770 with 15 RBIs in 20 games in the second half. Shaw headed into the season’s intermission with a .198/.276/.280 slash line and two homers in 63 games.
“We should all be really proud of what Matt’s done this year,” Counsell said, “in terms of being kind of hit in the face with the big leagues and how tough it is and how tough it is to be a hitter in this league -- and to survive it. … The resiliency to continue to search and know success is in there is an important trait.”
Shaw spent a month back with Triple-A Iowa between April and May and has gone through a series of mechanical tweaks throughout the summer. He has adjusted the aggressiveness of his leg kick, moved his hands into different positions, worked on his pre-pitch posture and shifted from a closed stance to open -- all in an effort to get his timing right while staying true to some elements of his natural swing.
“I think Matt’s always going to be a bit of a tinkerer mechanically,” Counsell said. “But it’s all just this journey of getting better. And he’s comfortable trying new things and hearing new things to make him better.”
One result of the adjustments has been a dramatic change in where Shaw is hitting the ball. After pulling the ball just 31.7% of the time before the All-Star break, that rate had spiked to 51.1% in the second half, entering Sunday’s game. His fly-ball rate had also jumped to 43.5% since the break (entering Sunday), compared to 35% in the first half.
That has led to more offensive damage for Shaw, who has continued to gain confidence in the process.
“What I’ve seen from him the most is just the intent to hit the ball really hard,” Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly said. “And I think a lot of that has just come with confidence and comfort.”
Shaw agreed that he has made major strides on the mental side of his game.
“[You] trust the preparation,” Shaw said. “But it’s really kind of just enjoy being up there and playing free. And not trying to get a hit necessarily, but kind of trusting that by being up there, being confident, not putting too much pressure, that good things happen.”