After dropping the first two games against the Mariners in soul-crushing fashion, the Cubs put an exclamation mark on the series with a 19-2 rout on Sunday. Rookie Pedro Ramírez was right in the middle of it all, going three for six with three runs scored and five RBI, four of which came on his first career grand slam [VIDEO].
But the game of baseball moves fast, and just as Ramírez is getting his shot at everyday playing time, Matt Shaw started a rehab assignment in Iowa. That means the Cubs will
soon have a decision to make: Should Shaw or Ramírez man the keystone while Nico Hoerner covers for Swanson at shortstop? It’s admittedly a good problem to have, so let’s dive into the numbers and see if there’s a clear answer.
Ramírez has been excellent this season. The 22-year old was called up at the end of May after posting a .312/.395/.547 slash line with nine home runs and a wRC+ of 136 through his first 196 plate appearances for Triple-A Iowa. He paired that production with an excellent 16.3 percent strikeout rate and a 10.7 percent walk rate. It would be totally reasonable to expect a player who was young for Triple-A to struggle at the big league level, but Ramírez didn’t get that memo. In his first 171 MLB plate appearances he’s hit .290/.347/.439 with three home runs and a wRC+ of 117. The strikeout rate is up slightly at 18.7 percent, but that’s still ahead of the league average of 22.1 percent. His 8.2 percent walk rate is ever so slightly below the league average of 8.9 percent.
Since Dansby Swanson hit the injured list with an oblique issue, Ramírez has been the everyday second baseman for the Cubs. It’s been an adjustment for the last week, although his .292 BABIP during that time is low relative to his history in the minors. Back-to-back big games against the Mariners and Diamondbacks have already improved his numbers since taking over the full-time role considerably, and he looks like he’s settling into the everyday job. He does have two fielding errors so far this season, one at second base and one at third base, but honestly it’s such a small sample size he doesn’t qualify for the Statcast leaderboard unless you adjust the qualifier. He does have two Outs Above Average so far as a fielder this year. While the scouting report sees Ramírez as an average or slightly above average fielder, he does have some webgems so far this year, like this excellent play to rob Andy Pages of extra bases in August:
Matt Shaw was a Gold Glove finalist at third base for the Cubs last year as a rookie, but by comparison he had -1 OAA last season. Despite that gap, most evaluators would say Shaw is the superior defender despite the initial results show them as reasonably close to each other defensively. Shaw also offers a bit more defensive flexibility than Ramírez. He’s already played a decent amount of outfield and while there have been some hiccups there at time, he’s also flashed some promise as a corner outfielder:
Shaw has shown improvements at the plate so far in 2026. His wRC+ of 106 through his first 147 plate appearances is 22 points higher than the 94 he posted through 437 plate appearances last season. Those improvements are visible across multiple stats, including his slashline which has improved from .226/.295/.394 to .246/.322/.415. His walk rates are relatively similar, he posted an 8.7 percent BB rate in 2025 and an 8.2 percent BB rate in 2026, but the real improvement is in his strikeout rate. During his rookie campaign Shaw struck out 21.5 percent of the time. So far in 2026 he’s struck out 18.4 percent of the time.
Where Shaw does have an advantage over Ramírez is raw power. He has four home runs in 24 fewer plate appearances than Ramírez this season, and hit 13 in 437 plate appearances last year:
One complication is that both Shaw and Ramírez are better against lefties. Shaw has posted a .279/.353/.492 slashline with a wRC+ of 135 and two of his four homeruns in 68 plate appearances against southpaws this year compared to a .217/.295/.348 slashline with a wRC+ of 81 in 79 plate appearances against righties in 2026. He had similar splits in a larger sample last season. Ramírez is a switch-hitter, but hits better from the right side of the plate where he’s slashing .370/.414/.556 with a wRC+ of 171 in (an admittedly tiny sample size of) 29 plate appearances against lefties compared to a .262/.324/.381 slashline with a wRC+ of 94 in 140 plate appearances as a lefty against right-handed pitchers. That gap was similar in a larger sample size of his minor league plate appearances this season.
Which all leads to the big question: Who should be the primary second baseman when Shaw is ready to return from his rehab in Iowa? At the beginning of the season, it would have undoubtedly been Shaw’s job, but Ramírez is in the midst of an outstanding rookie debut and manager Craig Counsell has been known to ride the hot hand. Who would you play at second base while Dansby is out?
