Matt Shaw was the Cubs’ No. 1 pick in 2023 out of Maryland and raced through the system, making his MLB debut this past March in Tokyo.

Unfortunately, Shaw didn’t hit well early in the season. He was batting .172/.294/.241 (10-for-58) in 18 games through April 14 when he was optioned to Triple-A Iowa for a month.

Returning in mid-May, Shaw hit a bit better — .208/.268/.295 (31-for-149) with two home runs, up to the All-Star break. He still wasn’t producing with average or power, but was drawing some walks.

Some kind of switch flipped for Shaw after the break, because in his first 34 games following the break he batted .298/.343/.691 (28-for-94) with nine home runs. That’s All-Star level performance.

In his last 28 games of the regular season, though, Shaw pretty much matched his May-th

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