Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson stopped on his way to the batting cages Monday to chat with first-round pick Matt Shaw.
‘‘He’s a really, really good guy,’’ Shaw said. ‘‘Someone that I’m going to definitely look up to a little more now that I’ve gotten to know him. I mean, I’ve only had two conversations with him, but I look forward to getting to know him a little bit more and watch how he goes about his business.’’
Swanson was one of the first Cubs to welcome Shaw to the organization. Their first conversation took place on the first night of the draft. Swanson texted Shaw to congratulate him, and Shaw called him. On Monday, Shaw visited Wrigley Field for the first time to witness a defining point of the Cubs’ season.
The high stakes of the homestand didn’t dictate the timing. The Cubs were hosting Shaw, the No. 13 overall draft pick, days after he agreed to terms with them, signing at slot value ($4,848,500 bonus). But it set up, in a tangible way, the balancing act of keeping ‘‘one eye on the present and one eye on the future,’’ something president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer has talked about a lot in recent years.
The next couple of weeks will tell which side the scales will favor at the trade deadline Aug. 1. The Cubs are teetering on the edge of falling out of contention. And they didn’t help their standing when they lost the three-game weekend series to the Red Sox, Shaw’s hometown team, two games to one.
‘‘I would have loved to be here with the Sox [in town],’’ he said. ‘‘It would have been really cool, but it just didn’t work out.’’
Shaw put himself on the major-league radar with steady growth in his three years at Maryland. In addition to playing shortstop, Shaw also can play second, third and all three outfield positions. His slugging percentage improved every year, and he honed his plate discipline.
For the latter, Shaw gave credit to former Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the bench coach for Shaw’s team in the Cape Cod League last summer, for helping him refine his approach.
‘‘We talked about what type of pitches to sit on in what counts,’’ Shaw said, ‘‘and he was the one who advised me: ‘Hey, maybe we should sit on offspeed a little bit less.’ ’’
Shaw was named the Cape Cod League MVP last year and this spring took home the Brooks Wallace Award, which honors the top college shortstop, and Big Ten Player of the Year award. Now he has his sights set on bigger things.
‘‘I wanted to be on a team that I thought would move me up and give me the opportunity to fail early, learn, to get my footing through playing against really good competition,’’ he said on draft night. ‘‘Moving up to Double-A, moving up to the majors.’’
Look at the Cubs’ recent track record with first-round college position players. Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, Ian Happ and Nico Hoerner all debuted in the majors within two years of being drafted.
‘‘He’s got a pretty advanced bat, so I wouldn’t be surprised,’’ vice president of scouting Dan Kantrovitz said when he was asked if the Cubs would push Shaw aggressively up the ladder. ‘‘But it’s too early to start to get into that.’’
However long it takes him to get to the big leagues, Shaw got a glimpse into his possible future Monday. He met manager David Ross and told the former Red Sox catcher about his affinity for Boston. He talked with Swanson for a couple of minutes. He made his way to the dugout, where a scrum of cameras and reporters awaited him.
From the bench, he craned his neck to peer over heads and the railing and get his first good look at the field.
‘‘Probably right here, right now,’’ Shaw said when he was asked the most surreal part since the draft. ‘‘Being here, being at the field, being in the dugout, being with you guys. Being able to just talk to Dansby, David Ross, all those guys — that is very surreal.’’
