Shortstop Matt Shaw — one of the top college hitters — at No. 13 and right-hander Jaxon Wiggins at No. 68 – The Denver Post

Matt Shaw’s ambitious outlook for his professional career already has him envisioning a fast track to Wrigley Field.

The Chicago Cubs selected the University of Maryland shortstop with the No. 13 draft pick Sunday.

“My goal is to play in the major leagues,” Shaw said Sunday night, “so I wanted to be on a team I thought would move me up and give me the opportunity to kind of fail early and learn to get my footing through playing against really good competition, moving up to Double A and moving up to the majors. And the Cubs I think will do a good job of that, and that’s really exciting to me.”

After going the pitcher route in the first round three of the last four years, the Cubs tapped into the deep college hitter pool for their top 2023 pick with their selection of Shaw.

Shaw, 21, was considered one of the top college hitters in the draft. He won the 2023 Brooks Wallace Award as the nation’s top shortstop and was the Big Ten Player of the Year.

“I’m not going to say that I knew I was going to be the 13th overall pick, but what I did know is that I give myself the opportunity to leave it on the field and do everything I can do to have this opportunity,” he said. “And I don’t think there was ever a doubt in my mind that it couldn’t happen.

“It’s a long process and just staying consistent every day from six years ago to now is a reason (I am) where I am today. There’s no big jump (like) all of a sudden it’s like, ‘Whoa, I can play baseball now.’ It’s like, ‘OK, there’s little things that I can get better at.’”

Shaw impressed the Cubs during their meeting at the MLB combine, one of 20 organizations he sat down with during the event. The conversation ranged from his swing mechanics and thought process to going through his daily routine and gaining insight into who he is as a person. He described his chat with the Cubs as an easy conversation.

The feeling was mutual, and the interaction left a strong impression on vice president of scouting Dan Kantrovitz and the Cubs.

“The thing that really stood out about Matt to us during these interviews was, going back to how driven he is, how focused he is,” Kantrovitz said. “And then when you start to double back and talk to — whether it’s a strength coach or his hitting coach or somebody from high school that’s worked with him — the one thing that was a constant theme was how diligent of a worker he is.

“The superlatives that are being thrown around left and right in terms of just how hard Matt works, and you combine that work ethic with somebody that’s already got a pretty impressive level of performance resume under his belt, it ends up being something that’s pretty appealing to us.”

Shaw hit .341 with a .445 on-base percentage, 1.142 OPS, 20 doubles and 24 home runs during his junior season at Maryland. He also stole 18 bases and was caught only once. He showed a good approach and limited his whiffs, drawing 43 walks against 42 strikeouts in 62 games (317 plate appearances).

Shaw described his approach at the plate as sitting on pitches. Because he used to get thrown a lot of off-speed pitches, the right-handed slugger used to wait on those to attack. However, Shaw realized the off-speed pitches weren’t the ones he wanted to do damage on, prompting an adjustment to hunting fastballs and taking off-speed pitches early in the count.

“And all of a sudden I’m in a 2-1 count instead of a 1-1 or I’m grounding out early,” he said. “So that discipline came from the approach to things and being a little more patient but also having that plan where just because they’re going to throw a slider doesn’t necessarily mean I need to sit on it and hit it.”

The Massachusetts native grew up a Boston Red Sox fan, going to games at Fenway Park. Shaw is looking forward to getting to experience another historic ballpark in Wrigley, a place he’s never had a chance to visit.

This marks the third time the Cubs have picked at No. 13. They selected outfielder Tyler Colvin in 2006 and catcher Bill Hayes in 1978. Manny Ramirez (1991), Frank Tanana (1971), Chris Sale (2010), Trea Turner (2014) and Paul Konerko (1994) have the highest career WARs from that draft position.

The Cubs drafted Arkansas right-hander Jaxon Wiggins at No. 68 in the compensation round. They received that pick as compensation for the Cardinals signing Willson Contreras but lost their second-round pick for signing Dansby Swanson.

Wiggins, 21, missed the 2023 season because of Tommy John surgery. The Cubs, though, were impressed by what he showed in the fall and during the 2022 College World Series when they saw him in the process of scouting — and later selecting — right-hander Cade Horton with their first-round pick last year.

Wiggins features a mid- to upper-90s fastball that has a good ride up in the zone along with a power slider and curveball. His curveball development stood out to scouts and the Cubs believe, according to Kantrovitz, “there might be something untapped to explore there, potentially.”

“If we’re fortunate enough to get him into the fold, he’s somebody that we probably really just take our time with,” Kantrovitz said, “and make sure first and foremost that health is sort of the driving factor in development initially.”

Here’s a breakdown of the Cubs selections in the 2023 MLB draft.

• Round 1, No. 13 (bonus slot value $4,848,500): SS Matt Shaw, Maryland
• Compensation round, No. 68: RHP Jaxon Wiggins, Arkansas
• Round 3, No. 81: SS Josh Rivera, Florida
• Round 4, No. 113: RHP Will Sanders, South Carolina
• Round 5, No. 149: C Michael Carico, Davidson
• Round 6, No. 176: OF Alfonsin Rosario, P27 Academy (S.C.)
• Round 7, No. 206: SS Yahil Melendez, B You Academy (Puerto Rico)
• Round 8, No. 236: OF Brett Bateman, Minnesota
• Round 9, No. 266: 1B Jonathon Long, Long Beach State
• Round 10, No. 296: RHP Luis Martinez-Gomez, Temple College (Texas)
• Round 11, No. 326:
• Round 12, No. 356:
• Round 13, No. 386:
• Round 14, No. 416:
• Round 15, No. 446:
• Round 16, No. 476:
• Round 17, No. 506:
• Round 18, No. 536:
• Round 19, No. 566:
• Round 20, No. 596:

()