Cubs' Matt Shaw moves to new position as Pete Crow-Armstrong looks to improve from last season

The boys in blue are almost all there at Cubs camp. 

The arrival of designated hitter Moises Ballesteros and a prospect continued to be delayed by visa issues. Still, there was plenty of excitement in the desert air for Monday's first full-squad workout.

With Alex Bregman now a member of the Cubs, Matt Shaw is making the transition from playing almost exclusively at third base to being a utility guy who will play in the outfield as well. He's leaning on four-time Gold Glove left fielder Ian Happ, who played some infield early in his career.

"I'm sure he'll be super helpful. You know, he already has been. He told me I asked him about like a certain glove length that i should get in the outfield, and I said like 14 and a half or something, and he informed me that there is no such thing as a 14 and a half size glove," Shaw said.

"Yeah. He did. yeah, yeah he hasn't played a lot of outfield because he didn't even know what size the glove was, so I helped there. It's the little things, you know," Happ said. 

Happ recalled being in Shaw's spot. He said he had great mentors while he was doing it and had the experience of going back and forth and breaking down the practice side of things, which he said was challenging.

In center field, Pete Crow-Armstrong also won a Gold Glove last year, but still sees room for improvement.

"The throwing decisions, I think that's been the kind of the kicker my whole career so far. I just gave up some extra bases last year, I think. So I guess kind of dropping the ego and not feeling like I'm going to throw somebody out from 300 feet," Crow-Armstrong said.

"I just want him to catch everything. Yeah, just I'd be good. with last year on defense, it's fine," said manager Craig Counsell.

Crow-Armstrong has a special custom glove that he will be wearing in the World Baseball Classic. He said he actually went to Wilson's headquarters in Chicago and helped design it himself.