By Andrew Wright
Contributing Sports Writer
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Matt Shaw's impact on the 2025 Chicago Cubs may have come to a screeching halt.
After being in the starting lineup nearly every day of June and July, Shaw has found himself out of the Cubs' lineup three times in the last four days.
It may not be a reason for concern, but it could be a signal that his time as the primary starting third baseman is coming to an end for the time being.
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Shaw has a .038 (1-for-26) average in July and has looked even worse than his first stint in the majors this season.
He was batting .172 when he was demoted to Triple-A, but the young infielder managed to get his average all the way up to .259 after being recalled.
Shaw was at .259 after a 2-for-3 performance on June 6, and it appeared that he'd worked out whatever kinks and problems he was having at the plate.
Since then, though, it has been all downhill for Shaw. He finished June with a .193 average for the month, and as we noted above, he is batting just .038 in July.
Shaw was absent from Friday night's starting lineup, and Cubs analyst Taylor McGregor noted on the broadcast that it was just a simple day off to work on things for Shaw.
That has now turned into at least two days off, as Shaw was not present in Chicago's starting lineup on Saturday either. It could very well be a case of manager Craig Counsell giving Shaw the weekend off to regroup, headed into the All-Star break.
There is a reason that Shaw was the top prospect in the Cubs organization before the season. It's very unlikely that the front office is going to give up on him this quickly.
However, with a window of opportunity to make a deep postseason run open this season, an upgrade at third base for the second half of the season may be what is needed.
That could result in Shaw taking a backseat for the remainder of the year and coming back in Spring Training next year to prove that he is still the third baseman of the future for Chicago.
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