Jed Hoyer and the Chicago Cubs refuse to look at Tuesday as the pinnacle for top prospect Matt Shaw.

With what he’s accomplished in his professional career and his standing in the organization, how could you?

“He gets to make his major-league debut in the Tokyo Dome against the Dodgers, which is amazing,” the Cubs president of baseball operations told reporters before Tuesday’s Opening Day contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers. “But ultimately, this is a nice thing for a scrapbook, it’s fun, but ultimately it’s about staying here. It’s about performing.

“We’ve seen a lot of guys come up here and had success in the minors and there’s ups and downs. I think he has the mental fortitude, the makeup to handle that, but it gets a lot harder.”

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Shaw had his contract selected prior to Tuesday’s contest against the Dodgers and is the starting third baseman for the Cubs at the Tokyo Dome. The Cubs are believers that he can succeed at the major league level. Shaw’s path so far certainly leans credence to that.

In a draft class loaded with name power – Paul Skenes, Wyatt Langford and Dylan Crews are just some of the names taken that year – Shaw has flown a bit under the radar but has put up performances on par or above some of those players. In 159 career minor league games, Shaw has 29 home runs, 99 RBI, 46 stolen bases and a .303/.384/.522 (.906 OPS) slash line with a whopping 152 weighted runs created plus, 52 percentage points above league average.

Shaw’s put up that production while shifting positions – he was drafted as a shortstop, bounced around the infield and has been learning third base since last year – and with an unorthodox swing that features his left leg facing in and a big leg kick.

“He’s a uniquely confident person,” Hoyer said. “He’s not right in your face, but I think he believes in himself as a player. I think he does things a little bit unconventionally and I think maybe that’s why he’s very confident.

“I think people probably have been telling him to change throughout his life and he’s like, ‘No, I’m pretty good at this, I’m gonna keep doing it.’ I give him a lot of credit for having that conviction.”

Now comes his biggest challenge. This is the best of the best in baseball and against the Dodgers, it’s the standard that the other 29 teams are trying to chase.

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“Since we drafted Matt, every challenge that really baseball, the Cubs, the leagues he’s been in, that have been in front of him, he has thrived in,” manager Craig Counsell told reporters in a press conference on Tuesday. “You put a challenge in front of him, he wins the challenge. And he has been a performer everywhere he’s gone.

“Who knows if a guy is ready, but he’s passed every test and that makes you think he’s ready.”

Soon, everyone will find out.