The Matt Shaw conundrum for the Chicago Cubs is one front-office executives face all the time.

When your top prospect is on a hot streak and appears ready for a call-up, do you pull the trigger immediately or wait a little longer to see if it’s sustainable?

Shaw, who began the season with the Cubs before being demoted to Triple-A Iowa in mid-April, hit four home runs in two games entering Saturday, including a walk-off blast Thursday and two more Friday.

Third base has been a glaring problem spot for the Cubs for the last few years, and particularly this season. Promoting Shaw would seem like a no-brainer.

“The performance is obvious over the last few days, that’s pretty clear,” general manager Carter Hawkins told the Tribune on Saturday before Game 2 of the City Series. “Those weren’t cheap home runs (Friday). I think the thing we’re most encouraged about from yesterday’s game is the adjustments he’s making, kind of toning down things a little.

“He’s such a good hitter, and when he hits on time he hits really, really well. He’s got the hands to be able to do it, and has been working on find that consistent approach and I think you saw the fruits of that (Friday) night. We’re definitely encouraged by that and think he can help us out this year. And it could be sooner than later.”

Sooner might be preferable.

Vidal Bruján started at third Saturday and has been part of a third-base committee that includes Jon Berti and Nicky Lopez. Cubs third basemen are hitting a combined .174, the second worst average in the majors. They’re the only team without a home run from the position, and their combined eight RBIs are also league-worst.

Shaw made the opening-day roster and hit .172 in 18 games for the Cubs before the demotion. It was a fairly small sample size, but the Cubs didn’t want their top hitting prospect to lose confidence, and they also needed to get off to a strong start, facing an early schedule that included many top teams.

At Iowa, Shaw toned down his exaggerated leg kick and entered Saturday hitting .302 in 20 games, with six home runs, 14 RBIs and a 1.016 OPS.

The Cubs made a similar decision last year when they sent Pete Crow-Armstrong down to Iowa in late May after a slow start, only to bring him back on May 30. One year later, Crow-Armstrong looks like a certain All-Star selection and is the talk of the town.

That doesn’t mean Shaw will follow the same path. No one expects that kind of improvement. But Crow-Armstrong’s maturation is a good example of how a player can turn things around with time if he has the talent and can learn to make the proper adjustments.

“He’s really starting to establish himself as an impact player in this lineup and in this league,” Hawkins said of Crow-Armstrong. “That’s a credit to Pete, first and foremost. He’s put a lot of hard work in.

“It’s not been easy for him. He’s been punched in the face a couple of times, last year and this year, and had the resilience to come back. That’s probably as encouraging as anything. But it’s not like he continued to do the same thing over and over again. He made adjustments to the league.

“The defense and the base-running have been pretty consistent throughout the whole thing, which has afforded him the opportunity to be in the lineup every day. Overall in the system it’s been fun to watch some of the youth coming up.”

With Crow-Armstrong and Cade Horton succeeding, the Cubs system is starting to live up to its reputation. The Cubs firmly believe Shaw will be an integral part of this year’s team.

“The work isn’t done, but we’ve seen it with Matt Shaw and Pete, and we’ll probably see it with (Moises) Ballesteros here,” Hawkins said. “Success isn’t linear. They have to make adjustments once they get here, but we feel these guys have a really solid foundation to build off of, and that’s the thing that excites us the most.”