SAN DIEGO — The Chicago Cubs are shaking up their roster, demoting thrid baseman Matt Shaw to Triple-A Iowa and rearranging the bullpen ahead of Tuesday’s game against the San Diego Padres.
Shaw, a first-rounder in 2023 who was ranked the sport’s 14th-best prospect this year by The Athletic’s Keith Law, made his major league debut during the Tokyo Series in mid-March. The Cubs seemed prepared to deal with his inevitable growing pains.
The third baseman, though, wound up hitting .172 (10-for-58) in 18 games and got squeezed by a roster crunch. Utility player Vidal Bruján was activated from the injured list and the Cubs are carrying Rule 5 pick Gage Workman as a bench player.
While the Cubs have played well during their current West Coast trip, Monday night’s loss at Petco Park featured a bullpen meltdown.
To reset, the Cubs promoted relievers Luke Little and Daniel Palencia from Triple A. Nate Pearson, in turn, was optioned to Iowa while Eli Morgan (right elbow impingement) was placed on the injured list.
This story will be updated.
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