Maryland junior shortstop Matt Shaw is having an outstanding season for the Terps, who have a 30-15 mark this season on their march to the NCAA Tournament.
In a recent game at UMBC, the Terps won 24-11 with a 17-run second inning, a program record for runs scored in a single inning. Shaw scored four runs in the win against UMBC.
Shaw, considered a first-round prospect in the 2023 MLB Draft, is hitting .359/.482/.751 with 34 extra-base hits through Maryland’s first 45 games. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound shortstop earned Perfect Game and Big Ten Player of the Week honors in early April after an eight-hit week with a .533 batting average, 16 RBIs and two home runs.
Shaw says he set a pretty high standard for himself entering the season, yet he still feels there are many aspects he needs to continue working on.
“For me, walking more than I’m striking out and having a better on-base percentage is something that’s absolutely huge for me, something I put a lot of value in and something I’ve never done before,” Shaw said on Glenn Clark Radio April 26. “People who know baseball know on-base percentage is an extremely important statistic, maybe even more important than average. โฆ It’s something that I focus on a lot.”
Shaw grew up in Brimfield, Mass., and attended Worcester Academy. He was ranked the No. 3 shortstop in the state of Massachusetts and ranked the No. 9 overall player in the state of Massachusetts by Perfect Game.
Shaw had a few schools other than Maryland interested in him, such as Northeastern, but Maryland was the school most interested in him. He knew that Maryland didn’t have a huge baseball track record, but the Terps have had some success. He liked the coaches and the fact that the school was in a power conference, so he knew he could grow with the team.
Maryland finished with a 48-14 record last year, with Shaw a key part of the success. The Terps hosted an NCAA Tournament regional for the first time in program history.
“Coming in and doing that was huge. The players, the fans, the coaches, everybody knew this was something we always believed we could do,” Shaw said. “Finally, being able to do it and see it come to life was absolutely amazing to see. I just remember seeing a line of fans outside our stadium and the line was 200 feet long. That was a crazy feeling to see the Terps’ stadium getting filled up like that.”
Shaw mentioned that after an excellent season last year, the team struggled a bit early on to find its identity as a new team this year. The Terps had a few difficult nonconference losses this season, yet Shaw says losing some of those games helped draw the team closer together.
Shaw says the team is really starting to come together.
“It feels good right now. The team is trending in the right direction, that’s huge for us,” Shaw said. “I think as a whole we’re starting to gain some momentum, and obviously, in the game of baseball — really, any sport you’re playing — momentum is huge.”
Shaw is expected to be a first-round pick in this summer’s draft, and his goal is to become a Major League Baseball player. He’d love to play for his hometown Red Sox, but he’d be ready to play for the Orioles are any other team that gives him a chance.
For now, though, his focus is remains on Maryland’s season.
“I think it’s something we obviously can do in years to come, whether it’s this year or other years,” Shaw said of hosting a regional again. “โฆ That’s what we’re looking forward to every year. That’s kind of the goal every year, and obviously making it to Omaha.”
For more from Shaw, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Maryland Athletics
Originally published April 28, 2023. Updated May 1, 2023.