NL DIVISION SERIES: CUBS VS BREWERS

October 3, 2025

Matt Shaw

American Family Field

Chicago Cubs

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. Just three postseason games under your belt. What did you learn about yourself after those three games against the Padres?

MATT SHAW: Yeah, I mean, I feel like similar to the season, you're learning every time you come out. Obviously the postseason has a different atmosphere. Learning how to control the emotions, learning that, whether it's the postseason or not, you're going to make mistakes offensively, whatever it may be, and just really continuing to grow and kind of make adjustments, no differently than I've tried to do all year.

Coming back, made a few adjustments, and ready to rock and roll for this series.

Q. Does it give you any, for lack of a better term, confidence seeing a guy like Pete who struggled the first two games and had three hits and knowing it could be somebody else in the lineup that steps up?

MATT SHAW: I think what we do so good at as a team is every day it feels like there's a new kind of hero for our team that's coming up, stepping up and really helping us win that game, and that continues to be the case.

It's something that's really cool about our team. I feel like anyone at any time can step up and get those big hits. So hopefully we can start rolling kind of as a bunch a little bit more, myself included in that.

No, it's cool to see Pete come out and be really successful, have those three hits, and yeah, it's awesome.

Q. You played a series here in Milwaukee I believe earlier this season. What do you remember about kind of the atmosphere of the Cubs/Brewers game in Milwaukee and what kind of atmosphere are you expecting this week with the mix of fans and everything?

MATT SHAW: Yeah, I mean, Milwaukee, they do not like the Cubs, the Cubs don't like the Brewers. There's definitely a rivalry there.

I expect it to be pretty -- it's going to be pretty aggressive on both sides of the ball. Both teams really want to win, really competitive.

I think the atmosphere of the fans -- I think there's going to be some Cubs fans that definitely get here, but overall I'm sure it's going to be absolutely amazing, something that we look forward to. It's going to be really cool.

Q. Just kind of -- Seiya got rolling down the end of the season and came up huge in the game against the Padres. As his teammate, what stands out to you about Seiya in terms of his preparation and approach at the plate?

MATT SHAW: Yeah, Seiya is someone who works really, really hard. He's always grinding in the cage trying to get himself in a good position to be successful that day. Someone that I think nobody is surprised that he's had these five, six extra-base hits or whatever in a row games. Someone that we all really love and respect.

I think baseball is a really hard game, so watching him being able to have that success is really, really cool. He prepares amazing. He's ready. Yeah, he's been absolutely crushing the ball.

Q. Can you tell me about sort of Matt Shaw 2.0? After you went down and did that reset, who did you become and what did you figure out that second time around to be so productive?

MATT SHAW: Yeah, I mean, for me, it really wasn't until the All-Star break when I came back that I really felt like I had kind of had a slight mindset change.

Obviously there were some mechanical things if you look at my swing at the beginning of the year to now, they're very different.

But I think the biggest thing for me that I learned is kind of a perspective change that helped me to really have fun and enjoy being here, to understand that it's the major leagues and I have a job to do.

But at the same time, I really should enjoy doing it, and I really should have fun while I'm out there, and that kind of freedom to play and enjoy playing allowed me to have a lot more success. It allowed me to change the way I looked at every at-bat, put a lot less pressure on myself.

There was the adjustments mechanically, but I think mentally, that adjustment was probably the biggest one that I've made this entire year.

Q. Obviously the Brewers were able to rest, set up their rotation for this series. You're coming off a three-game series with San Diego. What kind of momentum did you get from having played those games and having had some postseason experience going into this?

MATT SHAW: Yeah, absolutely. Having the experience is huge. Just three games in, I think you learn a lot about what the postseason is all about in a sense and the atmosphere you get to experience it. You kind of get to catch your breath a little bit and kind of -- you have the experience of playing in a really, really big game.

That momentum is a real thing, and I think we're coming here, we've played really good baseball, we just beat a really good Padres team.

I think we're ready to just continue this journey. I think the atmosphere and the vibe in the clubhouse is really awesome. We really earned our position here, and I think that's a really exciting place to be in, and we're definitely really ready for this series.