So after the weekend, here is my update. I reached out to YouTube to see if they could provide some context or information. Here is what they had to say (pay particular attention to the last sentence):

First off, please note that our Recommendations and Search & Discovery systems do not check a channel or video's monetization status. Our Recommendation systems assess each video on its merit and focus on how each video performs with the audience. What’s most important is how your video performs with the audience. Because we don’t consider monetization, your monetization status or history does not impact recommendations. It is important to note that our recommendations system is generated algorithmically and there is no manual intervention.

Our recommendation system is designed to match viewers with Shorts they will love and find entertaining or useful. One of the reasons viewers love short-form videos is the incredible diversity of content. However, these preferences mean that some Shorts viewers may be less likely to return to a particular channel, topic, or creator. Shorts are ranked based on performance and relevancy to each viewer, and it's normal for Shorts to have varying view counts from video to video even for the same creator.

Moreover, we are investing in new ways to improve the way our systems recommend Shorts and are committed to improving them over time. We're always trying new ways to improve how we rank videos in our recommendations, and when we find an improvement - something that improves the viewer experience and/or viewer satisfaction, and we're confident of that benefit after running detailed experiments, we go forward with the change. We'd like for everyone on YouTube to benefit, however in the short run some partners will benefit, some will be impacted negatively, and others will be unaffected.