Matt Shaw is off to a spectacular start at Premier12 WBSC 2024, presented by RAXUS. The American infielder posted impressive numbers in the first two games of the competition, going 7-for-8 with 7 RBIs, all coming in Sunday’s game against the Netherlands, setting a Premier12 record for a single game.
His Premier12 numbers show seven hits in eight at-bats, with a home run, a double and five singles. He is hitting .875 with a 1.375 slugging percentage and an .889 on-base percentage. He was hit by a pitch once and has two stolen bases. With those numbers, he leads the tournament in batting average, runs batted in, stolen bases, runs scored, hits and on-base percentage; He is also second in slugging percentage.
According to data provided by WBSC partner Synergy, Shaw has seen 31 pitches in the tournament. He has taken 10 balls, taken a strike eight times, committed five fouls and put the ball in play eight times. He has only been called out once, hitting into a double play in the first inning of yesterday’s game against the Netherlands.
American opponents have used three different pitches against him: fastballs (20), sliders (9) and curveballs (2). Of these 31 pitches, 20 were outside the zone, including 10 fastballs, one curveball and all nine sliders.
Shaw, who celebrated his 23rd birthday six days ago, is aware of this pattern. “We were looking for outside pitches. I mean, guys are working away, so we were looking for quick outside pitches,” the infielder said after the game against the Netherlands.
Interestingly, the 23-year-old infielder has swung 13 times (42% of the time) and made contact each time. In other words, he hasn’t missed a shot in the tournament. He has put the ball in play eight times, with four ground balls, three line drives and a fly ball.
Born on November 6, 2001 in Springfield, Massachusetts, Shaw is a highly-rated prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization. Selected in the first round of the 2023 Major League Draft, he posted a .284 batting average last season at the AA and AAA levels, with 21 home runs and 31 stolen bases in 121 games, and accumulated 71 RBIs.
