The Chicago Cubs’ 2025 season is going unexpectedly well as they sit at the top of the National League Central with a 21-13 record. Even in their most recent game, they effectively stopped the Milwaukee Brewers as they won by 6-5. Nico Hoerner performed exceptionally as he hit his first career lead-off home run for the team, and Pete Crow-Armstrong continued his hard-hitting. But despite all of this, the team still has a glaring gap at third base, and it’s getting more and more challenging.

Third base is largely described as a ‘black hole’ for the Cubs’ offense, even in 2024, with just 93 wRC+, which stood as the lowest for 3B’s since 1950. Also, the problem isn’t new and has plagued the team since the Cubs traded Kris Bryant to the Giants back in 2021. Ever since that trade, the third base spot has become nothing but a ‘revolving door’. Sure, Patrick Wisdom started over 130 games in 2023, but he failed to provide that offensive edge. And Isaac Paredes? Well, with just .223 BA and 3 HRs in 212 plate appearances, the Cubs finally traded him to Houston for Kyle Tucker. This season, too, the same problems have resurfaced, and Matt Shaw, a rookie, was roped in to alleviate those troubles.

Well, Matt Shaw, after biding his time in the minor leagues, finally came in March for the MLB Tokyo Series. From then on, in 18 games and 68 plate appearances, the player underperformed and was eventually demoted to Triple-A in April. And it was mostly expected that the player would bide his time there and sharpen his skills, as Jed Hoyer even pointed out, “This is not a place for a young player to tinker. We want him to be our third baseman… but he needs to go work on some stuff now and reset.” But now it seems the time has finally come.

“He’s ready,” Rick Strickland, the Cubs Triple-A co-hitting coach, said. “He’s ready to go back”. Strickland then provided the development that the player has put in. “ Getting him back here a little bit allowed him enough time to catch his break and get it back together. I would say nothing special as far as mechanical tricks or things we did. It’s really probably just getting that mental reset more than anything“. So can Matt Shaw, with his ‘refined’ skills, be an answer to the Cubs’ third base problem?

Well, the player would surely be raring to come back at the Cubs since now the team also needs him urgently. For context, till now the third basemen have combined for just 93 wRC+, which is the second worst for any position. Moreover, acquiring other players like Nolan Arenado, a player whom the Cubs were after, didn’t bear fruit as the Cardinals refused to trade within the division. If Shaw finally comes back, this would probably be the last chance he will get, as Hoyer is in the last year of his contract, and patience is running low.

Comeback speculation brings out some ghosts of the past

Now that the Cubs need Matt Shaw’s talents, there are still some questions left unanswered after his departure to the minor leagues. The move initially came as a shock, as Shaw was shipped off to Triple-A Iowa after just 18 games. Sure, there were problems with the stats as the player slashed .172/.294/.241 with just one home run and a 58 OPS+. But was his departure premature?

Jim Bowden blasted the Cubs for the abrupt decision to send the player to a minor league. “You have to give them time. Twenty games aren’t enough… I just think it’s really disappointing that you send a rookie out after only 20 games“. The verdict by Bowden was understandable and surely will bring some ghosts from the past for Matt Shaw.

One reason the Cubs decided to send the 23-year-old to Triple-A was that the team was off to a good start. But now, after seeing 13 different players rotate for the position, one solid player is urgently needed to fill the gap. The question now is, can Matt Shaw be that ‘solid’ player?