Will Shaw's leg kick pass big league test?

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian's Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

CHICAGO -- The last thing Cubs hitting coach Dustin Kelly is going to do when he steps into the batting cage with Matt Shaw this spring is tell the prospect that he has to scrap part of what got him there in the first place. Kelly does not view Shaw’s signature leg kick as a concern as the rookie looks to win the vacancy at third base.

“Not until it becomes an issue,” Kelly said at Cubs Convention last weekend.

Shaw, who is Pipeline’s top Cubs prospect and currently No. 22 on the Top 100 list (Pipeline is set to release their 2025 update Friday), said that his exaggerated stride has been a part of his swing since he was a kid. It helps generate some of his power, but it also works as a timing mechanism for the right-handed batter, who has put a lot of thought into his process.

In discussing his swing mechanics at Cubs Con, the 23-year-old Shaw pointed to big leaguers like Alex Bregman and Mike Trout, who are closer to him in stature. He has studied how their approach with the driving leg -- while not exactly the same as Shaw’s style -- helps put them in a position to react to varying pitch types.

“You see a guy like [Shohei] Ohtani,” Shaw said, “he’s waiting back and he’s so long and strong, he can hit a curveball and a fastball and you can see how much time he has. But a guy with shorter levers like me … their timing mechanisms are a little different, because they don’t have the luxury of just kind of, foot down, and hitting everything.

“So, the leg kick actually gives you a little bit easier timing to adjust from pitch to pitch.”

And to date, there is no disputing that Shaw’s dramatic leg kick has worked.

Before the Cubs grabbed Shaw with the 13th overall pick in the 2023 Draft, he hit .341/.445/.697 with 24 homers, 20 doubles, 69 RBIs, 18 steals and more walks (43) than strikeouts (42) in 62 games for Maryland. He then hit .357/.400/.618 with 21 extra-base hits in 38 games that summer as he climbed three Minor League levels to Double-A in his pro debut.

Shaw then posted a .500 slugging percentage in 16 Cactus League games for the Cubs last spring before embarking on a standout ‘24 campaign. He hit .284/.379/.488 with 21 homers, 19 doubles, 71 RBIs and 31 steals in 121 games between Double-A and Triple-A. Shaw then hit at a .412 clip for Team USA in the Premier12 tournament earlier this offseason.

“He’s hit everywhere that he’s been. That’s been the one constant,” Kelly said. “He hit in high school. He raked in college. He’s flown through the Minor Leagues. He did the Premier12 and hit. It’s not an issue until it becomes an issue. I’d be doing him a disservice saying that this is not going to work at the big league level, because I don't know that.”

Shaw smiled when told of Kelly’s feedback.

“That makes a lot of sense to me,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of different ways to hit, and like D.K. said, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. It’s definitely exciting to hear that and have that confidence from our hitting guys.”