Matt Shaw was picked with the 13th overall pick by the Chicago Cubs back in July and the right-handed hitting shortstop may end the 2023 season at Double-A. The infielder is currently tearing it up at Advanced A-Ball with the South Bend Cubs, but despite his awesome start in the minor leagues, Jonathon Long is now the hottest-hitting Cubs pick from this past draft class.
On Wednesday night, Long hit a walk-off, two-run home run the bottom of the ninth inning for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. This was his third home run since joining Low-A Ball in the Cubs system and his fourth long ball including his time playing in the Arizona Complex League.
Long, 21, was selected in the ninth round out of Long Beach State. The right-handed hitting first baseman has reached base in 12 of the 13 games he’s played in so far and his 210 wRC+ leads the group of 11 position players from the Cubs’ 2023 draft class.
Jonathon Long’s First 13 Games
13-for-39, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 8 R, 2 2B, 8 BB, 10 K
.333/.490/.692, 1.183 OPS, 210 wRC+
19.6 K%, 15.7 BB%
Meanwhile, Long’s teammate at Myrtle Beach Brian Kalmer is also off to a scorching hot start at the plate.
The Cubs picked Kalmer out of Gonzaga in the 18th round and the 23-year-old has already blasted five home runs, while hitting .342 in his first 20 games in the minor leagues. The third baseman reached safely in his first 11 games in pro ball and in 86 plate appearances Kalmer has posted a 1.054 OPS with a 185 wRC+.
We’ll see if either Long or Kalmer can follow Haydn McGeary’s path through the Cubs system as a lower round draft pick. McGeary was taken in the 15th round in 2022, and after destroying Single-A to begin the 2023 season, the first baseman was promoted to Double-A, where the slugger has continued his success.
McGeary, 23, has an .868 OPS with 14 home runs on the Tennessee Smokies in 87 games this season.
As for Shaw, he’s still looking fantastic at the higher level in South Bend and what’s great to see in addition to his slash line of .372/.424/.590, is that the shortstop is only striking out 12.9% of the time through his first 20 games in pro ball out of college.
