Matt McLain

The Reds’ Newest Infield Question

By Anthony Franco | August 28, 2025 at 4:05pm CDT

It wasn’t long ago that the Reds seemed to have an infield surplus. That has changed quickly. The Jeimer Candelario signing was a bust. Jonathan India was traded to Kansas City. Noelvi Marte tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance in Spring Training 2024. Matt McLain sustained significant shoulder and rib injuries and missed all of last year. First basemen Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer regressed, with Encarnacion-Strand’s stock completely tanking when he underwent wrist surgery in July ’24.

Cincinnati has needed to turn to trade a few times. They acquired glove-first utilityman Santiago Espinal in Spring Training last year. Gavin Lux was brought in as a lefty-hitting utility piece last offseason. Lux has been an average hitter and will be due an arbitration raise on this year’s $3.325MM salary. Espinal hasn’t hit at all and will probably be non-tendered in his final arbitration season. Cincinnati went back to the trade market this summer, taking on the final four and a half years on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ contract to land him from the Pirates. He’s now the starting third baseman, moving Marte to what appears to a full-time corner outfield role.

Elly De La Cruz and Hayes should be settled on the left side of the infield. Neither spot on the right side is established. Steer shouldn’t be playing every day on a contender. That might also be true of McLain, whose return from injury has been a major disappointment.

The former first-round pick carries a .221/.299/.329 batting line in 120 games. McLain came out of the gate on fire, homering in three straight games within the season’s first weekend. He has eight home runs in nearly five months since then. He’s hitting .217/.295/.305 in 464 plate appearances since the beginning of April. By measure of wRC+, he’s among the ten least productive hitters in that time (as are Hayes and Espinal).

It hasn’t cost McLain much playing time. That’s in part because of their lack of alternatives. They’d presumably have been more willing to play Espinal if he’d been hitting any better. McLain has dropped to the bottom third of the lineup after hitting second for a good chunk of the season. He looked like a legitimate building block two seasons ago. He finished fifth in Rookie of the Year balloting after hitting 16 homers with a .290/.357/.507 slash in 89 games. Then came last year’s injury-ruined season and this year’s dramatic downturn.

Some of the regression was foreseeable. McLain was never going to repeat the .385 average on balls in play that he had as a rookie. The Reds presumably also expected some rust after the year off. His strikeout and walk profile hasn’t changed much, but he’s doing far less damage on contact. He’s hitting fewer line drives and more lazy fly balls.

There’s also no sign that McLain is turning things around as he gets further removed from the injuries. Excluding his four-day tear in March, he’s been a below-average hitter in every month except June. His numbers have bottomed out over the past few weeks. McLain is hitting .217 with one extra-base knock (a double) and 24 strikeouts in 69 plate appearances in August.

Cincinnati doesn’t have many other options for the final month of the season. The only real alternative would be to play Lux more frequently at second base to open DH at-bats for Miguel Andujar. There’s a defensive downgrade from McLain to Lux and questions about whether Andujar would continue to hit as well as he has if he plays every day rather than getting heavy usage against left-handed pitching. The front office will have a tougher decision on whether to look outside the organization in the offseason.

McLain turned 26 earlier this month. He’s under arbitration control for four more seasons. As recently as this spring, the Reds viewed him as a core piece. McLain told Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer in April that the team approached with a preliminary extension framework before Opening Day. Talks didn’t get anywhere as both sides waited to see how McLain would perform after losing the ’24 season. It’s fair to say the Reds won’t be eager to revisit extension talks now, but it’s not known to what extent they might’ve soured on his long-term projection.

They have a few upper minors infielders who could push for playing time in 2026. Sal Stewart has hit 20 homers with a combined .309/.385/.528 slash between the top two minor league levels in his age-21 season. He’s a promising offensive player but faces questions from scouts about his position. Stewart has played mostly third base in the minors. He has started 15 games at second base this season after making 36 appearances there a year ago. Prospect evaluators consider him a below-average athlete, runner and defender. Do the Reds think he could be a viable if fringy second baseman, or is he more of an option to push Steer for first base reps?

There’s the opposite question with Edwin Arroyo. He’s a gifted defensive shortstop who may have a limited offensive ceiling. Arroyo lost all of 2024 to his own shoulder surgery. He has returned to put together a solid season in Double-A. He’s hitting .289/.351/.380 with good plate discipline metrics but only has three home runs. The Reds will put him on the 40-man roster this offseason, but he has yet to see any Triple-A action. Arroyo shouldn’t have any issue sliding over to second base defensively. He probably wouldn’t make a huge impact at the plate as a rookie.

Tyler Callihan made his MLB debut earlier this season. He broke his wrist crashing into the outfield wall while playing left field in his fourth MLB game. Callihan required season-ending surgery. He can compete for an Opening Day roster spot next spring and is viewed as a bat-first player who’s probably better suited for left field than second base.

The Reds probably don’t want to count on any of Stewart, Arroyo or Callihan out of the gate. They’ll need to decide whether to give McLain another shot or to add someone in free agency or trade. Gleyber Torres is the top free agent at the position. He might be attached to draft pick compensation as a qualifying offer candidate. Signing him would have echoes of the Mike Moustakas/Candelario deals that have flopped on the Reds in the past.

They could take a flier on bat-first utilityman Luis Rengifo. Trade options at the position include Brandon Lowe ($11.5MM club option), Ozzie Albies ($7MM club option), Luis García Jr. (likely $6-7MM arbitration salary), and Lenyn Sosa (pre-arbitration). India will probably be available in free agency with the Royals likely to non-tender him, but that’s only because he’s coming off a replacement level season with Kansas City.

Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images.

Reds Notes: McLain, Spiers, Abbott, Stephenson

By Anthony Franco | April 8, 2025 at 6:17pm CDT

The Reds announced a few moves before tonight’s game in San Francisco. Cincinnati placed second baseman Matt McLain on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 5, with a left hamstring strain. They also optioned righty Carson Spiers while recalling outfielder Will Benson and infielder Noelvi Marte from Triple-A Louisville.

The team specified that McLain’s hamstring strain was “slight,” so it’ll probably be a short-term absence. He had not played since Friday. Injured list stints can be backdated by a maximum of three days. The Reds were initially hopeful that McLain would be able to avoid the IL but seemingly knew he’d need at least a few more days and did not want to continue playing with a short bench. He’ll be eligible to return a week from today.

McLain had started seven of the first eight games at the keystone. The former first-round pick hit three home runs but was batting .214. Santiago Espinal has made three starts at second base, while Gavin Lux has started one game. The latter is in the lineup tonight against Giants right-hander Landen Roupp. Lux has mostly played left field in the early going. Blake Dunn gets the start there this evening. Marte, Benson and Espinal are all available off the bench.

Spiers heads to Louisville after opening the season in the rotation. The 27-year-old got the fifth rotation spot with Rhett Lowder and Andrew Abbott beginning the year on the injured list. Spiers combined for 9 1/3 frames of five-run ball over two starts. He allowed one run over six innings against the Rangers in his season debut before surrendering four runs across 3 1/3 innings in Milwaukee on Sunday.

It seems Abbott will be back from the injured list this weekend. The left-hander has made a pair of rehab appearances in Louisville. He got up to 92 pitches across 4 1/3 innings on Sunday. He’s back to essentially a full workload after falling slightly behind schedule in camp because of some residual shoulder discomfort. Abbott, who turned in a 3.72 ERA over 25 starts last season, will slot behind Hunter Greene, Nick Martinez, Brady Singer and Nick Lodolo.

Cincinnati also provided an encouraging update on Tyler Stephenson last night. Pat Brennan of The Cincinnati Enquirer writes that Stephenson was cleared to begin baseball activities after an MRI. The fifth-year catcher suffered a mild oblique strain halfway through March. Jose Trevino has been pushed into primary catching duty while being backed up by Austin Wynns. They’ve played very well, combining for a .286/.333/.536 line over 31 plate appearances.

Reds Approached Matt McLain About Extension Before Opening Day

By Anthony Franco | April 4, 2025 at 9:37pm CDT

The Reds floated a preliminary extension framework to Matt McLain before Opening Day, reports Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer. Talks didn’t get far, as the 25-year-old infielder told Wittenmyer that the numbers “just didn’t line up” with what his camp was seeking.

McLain missed all of last season recovering from shoulder surgery. The former first-round pick tore the labrum and damaged cartilage in his left (non-throwing) shoulder during Spring Training 2024. He was targeting an August return but suffered a stress reaction in his ribcage a week before he would have begun a minor league rehab stint. Cincinnati decided it wasn’t worth pushing him to get back in September, as it had become clear they weren’t going to make the playoffs.

It was an unfortunate follow-up after McLain’s strong rookie season. The righty-hitting infielder finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year balloting back in 2023. He hit .290/.357/.507 with 16 homers and 14 steals across 403 plate appearances. He’s a potential All-Star second baseman if healthy. Last year’s injury could have made it difficult to align on an extension, though. It adds some risk to the long-term profile, but McLain presumably would not want to feel like he’s negotiating at a low point in his value. He told Wittenmyer there are no conversations ongoing while pointing out that he didn’t play last season.

There’s plenty of time for the teams to reengage down the line. McLain has yet to reach two years of service time. He should qualify for early arbitration as a Super Two player next offseason. He’ll go through the arbitration process four times and is not slated to hit free agency until the 2029-30 offseason. McLain is on track to get to free agency in advance of his age-30 season. He has connected on three homers in the early going this season, though he has also punched out in 11 of his 30 trips to the plate.

The Reds did get one extension done this spring, retaining backup catcher Jose Trevino on a two-year deal with $11MM in new money. General manager Brad Meador tells Wittenmyer the team has had “very preliminary and early” extension conversations with a number of players. It doesn’t seem anything has gotten close. Extensions are most common during Spring Training, but a lot of those discussions have carried beyond Opening Day around the league. Brandon Pfaadt, Garrett Crochet, Jackson Merrill, Kristian Campbell and Ketel Marte have all signed extensions within the past eight days.

Reds Notes: McLain, Lux, Candelario, Ashcraft

By Nick Deeds | February 8, 2025 at 10:55pm CDT

Matt McLain looked like a budding star following a 2023 campaign where he debuted for the Reds and slashed an incredible .290/.357/.507 in 89 games en route to a fifth place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting that year. Impressive as McLain was, however, his rising star came crashing down when he suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery last March. He missed the entire 2024 campaign rehabbing but seemed poised to re-enter the club’s middle infield mix as the starting second baseman next to star shortstop Elly De La Cruz for 2025.

That was before the Reds landed Gavin Lux in a trade with the Dodgers, however. Lux has played second base for the overwhelming majority of his big league career outside of the rare cameo in the outfield and a few ill-fated attempts to try him at shortstop. As noted by Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer, club president Nick Krall has indicated that he expects Lux to play second base, left field, and DH for the Reds this year while also getting looks during Spring Training at third base and even shortstop as they look to sort out their mix of position players.

It’s a complicated puzzle the Reds will need to sort out this spring. De La Cruz is surely entrenched at shortstop, while Wittenmyer notes that Krall left the door open for veteran Jeimer Candelario to get the first crack at third base this year even after he struggled defensively at the position during an injury-marred 2024 campaign. If Candelario is at third base, that would open up first base for either Spencer Steer or Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Should Lux end up at second base, that would leave McLain without a spot on the infield, but it’s worth noting that the youngster took reps in center field during the Arizona Fall League this year and that C. Trent Rosencrans of The Athletic recently suggested that McLain could get a look in the outfield himself during Spring Training.

That complex infield picture seems likely to have a domino effect on the club’s outfield this year. Jake Fraley, Austin Hays, and TJ Friedl appear to be the three full-time outfielders locked into the Reds’ roster, but Fraley has long been a platoon player for Cincinnati while both Hays and Friedl are coming off difficult and injury-marred 2024 campaigns. That could open the door for the club’s excess infielders to take reps on the grass, with McLain standing out as an option in center field alongside Friedl while Steer and Lux could both be candidates to patrol the outfield corners.

Turning to the pitching staff, the club has an excess of potential starting pitching options that rivals its excess of potential infield options. Even before veteran Wade Miley returns from Tommy John surgery in May, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com notes that Hunter Greene, Brady Singer, Nick Lodolo, Andrew Abbott, Nick Martinez, Rhett Lowder, Graham Ashcraft, Carson Spiers, and perhaps even non-roster invitee Chase Petty could be candidates for a rotation job with the club. The most likely starting five in that group, however, figures to be Greene, Singer, Lodolo, Abbott, and Martinez.

Notably, that leaves Ashcraft on the outside looking in. The right-hander has spent his entire big league career in the rotation so far, making 60 starts across the past three seasons. The results have left something to be desired, however, as he’s posted a lackluster 4.91 ERA (92 ERA+) in that time. That includes a 5.24 ERA (84 ERA+) in 77 1/3 innings of work across 15 starts last year. As noted by Rosencrans in a recent mailbag, Ashcraft appears unlikely to make the club’s rotation and may have even fallen behind Lowder to the seventh spot on the club’s rotational depth chart at this point.

That makes Ashcraft a prime candidate to move into a bullpen role, and Rosencrans notes that there’s an “internal belief” that Ashcraft could find success at the back of the bullpen for the Reds if he doesn’t make the cut for the club’s starting rotation. Alexis Diaz had a rollercoaster season in the closer role in 2024, and if he or veteran set-up men Taylor Rogers and Emilio Pagan struggle in 2025 it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine Ashcraft getting an opportunity to prove himself as a high leverage reliever.

Reds Designate Brandon Leibrandt, Amed Rosario For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | October 28, 2024 at 3:05pm CDT

The Reds announced that infielders Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Matt McLain have been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. To open 40-man roster spots for those two, they designated left-hander Brandon Leibrandt and infielder Amed Rosario for assignment. Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer relays on X that the moves were necessary because McLain and Encarnacion-Strand are technically on rehab assignments in the Arizona Fall League and they reached their maximum rehab time, therefore needing to retake spots on the 40-man roster.

The Reds suffered a large number of significant injuries in 2024, with McLain and Encarnacion-Strand two of the biggest losses. McLain underwent left labrum surgery in March and was hoping to come back around August. But he suffered a stress reaction in his rib cage while trying to make his way back and ended up missing the entire season.

Encarnacion-Strand played 29 games but may have been playing hurt as he put up a dismal .190/.220/.293 line in that time. He was hit by a pitch on his hand in April and an X-ray revealed an old fracture that CES couldn’t figure out how he suffered. He went on the IL in May with a right ulnar styloid fracture and eventually underwent surgery in June. That procedure came with a three-month timeline and he wasn’t able to return in the remainder of the regular season.

Both players missed significant time in 2024 but apparently got healthy as the season was ending, so the Reds sent both to the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League to get some reps before the winter sets in. The Dogs played their first game on October 8 and rehab assignments come with a 20-day maximum for position players. It seems that MLB views their time in the AFL as a rehab assignment, so they had to be reinstated from the 60-day IL today with their rehab window closing.

The moves are largely technicalities, as both players would need to be reinstated from the injured soon regardless. There’s no injured list from five days after the World Series until spring training begins, so all players on the 60-day IL need to be reinstated soon anyway. This rehab formality just forced the Reds to do it slightly ahead of schedule.

Of the two players they bumped off, Rosario was slated to be off the roster soon anyway. He signed a one-year deal with the Rays for 2024, eventually getting traded to the Dodgers before landing with the Reds via waivers. There’s no reason for any club to claim him now, as 28 of the 30 clubs are eliminated. He wouldn’t be postseason eligible with the Yankees or Dodgers since it’s after the September 1 cutoff date. As a veteran with more than six years of service time, he has the right to reject an outright assignment. He’ll soon hit free agency, a few days earlier than anticipated.

Leibrandt, 32 in December, could have been retained for next year as he has less than a year of service time but seemingly wasn’t in Cincinnati’s plans. He signed a minor league deal with the club in May and got added to the roster at the end of August. He stuck on the 40-man for the final month of the season but was mostly on optional assignment. He only got into two major league games this year, allowing seven earned runs in 6 1/3 innings.

He was fairly serviceable in the minors this year, with a 4.41 ERA in 17 Triple-A starts. He had a 22.7% strikeout rate and 6% walk rate. However, he was pitching independent leagues last year and at the start of 2024. As a journeyman sliding towards his mid 30s, he was surely viewed as a temporary option on the club’s roster this year as they dealt with numerous pitching injuries.

As a player with a previous career outright, he has the right to elect free agency as opposed to accepting another outright assignment. Most clubs are facing roster crunches in the coming days, so he’ll presumably clear waivers and return to the open market shortly.

Matt McLain Likely Done For 2024 Season

By Leo Morgenstern | September 13, 2024 at 9:34pm CDT

It’s highly unlikely that Matt McLain will play again in 2024. The Reds infielder has been on the injured all season after undergoing shoulder surgery in March. He was initially targeting a return sometime in August, but a rib cage stress reaction he suffered about six weeks ago turned out to be a major setback in his rehab.

Still, until recently, the Reds had been holding out hope he could return before the end of the year. Just last week, manager David Bell told members of the media (including Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that McLain was “pain-free” and on his way back to “baseball activities.” Today, however, Bell admitted that it isn’t realistic to expect McLain to return this season, telling reporters (including Mark Sheldon of MLB.com): “It’s probably not going to happen.”

McLain, 25, finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting last season after he hit .290/.357/.507 with 23 doubles, 16 home runs, and 14 stolen bases in 89 contests. He also put up 2 OAA and 4 DRS while splitting his time between shortstop and second base. Looking like a legitimate five-tool talent, McLain finished with 3.1 FanGraphs WAR in just over half a season’s worth of games. Hopefully, Cincinnati will finally be able to see what he can do over a full season in 2025.

The Reds entered the 2024 campaign with a glut of talented young hitters, but many of those players have struggled this season for one reason or another. Spencer Steer and Will Benson have each taken a big step back at the plate after their breakout performances in 2023. Noelvi Marte has been a disaster since his return from an 80-game PED suspension earlier this year. Christian Encarnacion-Strand was slumping badly before he underwent surgery on his wrist in May. He has not played since. McLain was the most exciting of all those names in 2023, and his lost 2024 season has been, perhaps, the most disappointing.

Indeed, the word “disappointing” pretty much sums up the Reds in 2024. A year after finishing third in the NL Central and two games back of the final Wild Card spot, they currently sit fourth in their division and 10.5 games back of a postseason berth. They’re on pace to finish 78-84, four games worse than their record in 2023. Their pitching staff ranks 16th with a 4.06 ERA, while their offense ranks 26th with an 89 wRC+. They also rank 26th with a -23 fielding run value, per Baseball Savant.

McLain was hoping to get back on the field before the end of the season. Surely, the Reds would have loved to have his bat and glove back on the roster. However, at this point in the year, it’s not hard to understand why he and the team are putting their efforts toward a stronger and healthier 2025 instead.

NL Central Notes: McLain, Horton, Jones

By Mark Polishuk | August 11, 2024 at 6:24pm CDT

After finishing fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2023, Matt McLain’s sophomore season has thus far been a wash, as a shoulder surgery in March has kept him off the field. McLain was set to begin a minor rehab assignment tomorrow but those plans have now been put on hold, Reds manager David Bell told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmyer and other reporters. McLain suffered a stress reaction in his ribcage area last week and was assigned a shutdown period of 3-7 days, which has now stretched to beyond the intended start date of the rehab assignment.

As recently as Thursday, McLain “was having some progress and feeling better,” as Bell relayed about a text message sent to him from the infielder. The short timeframe of the initial shutdown period would seem to suggest that the rib injury isn’t as serious as it might sound, yet basically any setback at this point adds extra doubt about McLain’s ability to return to action before the 2024 season is over. He’ll need a pretty lengthy rehab period to get fully ramped up after his layoff, so even if McLain is able to start playing relatively soon, his return to the majors looks like it’ll be in September at the earliest. The 57-61 Reds are on the outskirts of an NL wild card race that is still relatively compact at the moment, so the team will need all the help it can get (including whatever McLain can provide) if Cincinnati has a shot of leapfrogging the field and snagging a playoff berth.

NL Central Notes: McLain, Carpenter, Almonte

By Nick Deeds | May 11, 2024 at 8:04pm CDT

The Reds lost a key piece of their starting lineup just before the season began when infielder Matt McLain underwent labrum surgery back in March. As relayed by Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer, McLain recently discussed his timeline for return with reporters, although he’s still a ways away from his name appearing in the Cincinnati lineup.

Per Goldsmith, McLain indicated that he’s still six weeks away from being cleared to swing a bat, indicating he can begin ramping up in earnest in early July. Given the length of his absence, McLain will surely require a rehab assignment in the minor leagues once he’s ready to return to game action, and given that the 24-year-old said that he’s targeting a potential return to the big league Reds sometime in August, just over four months after undergoing surgery. While that timeline still puts him around three months away from big league games, McLain indicated that his rehab is going well, telling reporters (including Goldsmith) that “Right now, [he’s] in a great spot.”

McLain’s absence from the lineup has been a noticeable one for the Reds this season. The youngster was a key part of the club’s offense during his rookie campaign last season as he slashed an impressive .290/.357/.507 in 403 trips to the plate before an oblique strain ended his 2023 season at the end of August. That sort of offensive presence would be a miracle for the Cincinnati lineup this year, which has posted a lackluster 82 wRC+ that’s good for bottom-five in the majors this year despite strong performances from fellow youngsters Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer. Jonathan India has primarily handled the keystone in McLain’s place, but he’s struggled to a wRC+ of 83 despite solid strikeout and walk rates this season.

More from around the NL Central…

The Cardinals welcomed back longtime infielder Matt Carpenter from the injured list this afternoon after he hit the shelf in early April due to an oblique strain. Carpenter, 38, was a 13th-round pick by the Cardinals back in 2009 and spent the first 12 seasons of his big league career with the club before departing following the 2021 season. He’s played for the Yankees and Padres in the majors since then but returned to the club on a one-year deal over the offseason. Carpenter will take the place of infielder Jose Fermin in the St. Louis bench mix, providing a second veteran left-handed bat alongside Brandon Crawford to complement the club’s heavily right-handed infield group that features Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, and Masyn Winn.
The Cubs’ relief corps took a hit this afternoon as the club placed right-hander Yency Almonte on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder strain. Almonte has been a rare bright spot in a struggling Cubs bullpen this season, pitching to a solid 3.45 ERA with a 3.34 FIP in 15 2/3 innings of work since coming over from the Dodgers alongside first baseman Michael Busch in a trade this past offseason. Manager Craig Counsell told reporters (including Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune) that there’s no timeline for Almonte’s return to action, leaving the Cubs to piece together solutions in the bullpen while he joins Julian Merryweather, Daniel Palencia, and Drew Smyly in departing the bullpen for the injured list in recent weeks, though right-hander Ben Brown’s recent move from the rotation to the bullpen in deference to Justin Steele could help to fortify the club’s relief corps.

Matt McLain Undergoes Shoulder Surgery

By Steve Adams | March 27, 2024 at 9:30am CDT

Reds infielder Matt McLain underwent surgery to repair the labrum and some damaged cartilage in his left shoulder yesterday, president of baseball operations Nick Krall announced this morning (X link via Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). A timeline for his recovery has yet to be determined, though the Reds are hopeful he’ll be able to return to the roster at some point this season.

McLain, the 17th overall draft pick back in 2021, made his big league debut last year and instantly cemented himself as a building block in Cincinnati. He appeared in 89 games and took 403 plate appearances, turning in an outstanding .290/.357/.507 slash line (128 wRC+) with 16 home runs, 23 doubles, four triples and a 14-for-19 showing in stolen bases. McLain’s 28.5% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate were both worse than average, which, when coupled with a sky-high .385 average on balls in play, created some reason to forecast a bit of regression. Given how strong his overall performance was, however, even if his rate stats took a step back in ’24, McLain would still likely have been a well above-average performer.

In 2023, McLain split his time between the Reds’ middle infield spots, though that was due largely to injuries for fellow top prospect Elly De La Cruz. With De La Cruz healthy in 2024, McLain had been ticketed for everyday work at second base, pushing 2021 NL Rookie of the Year Jonathan India into more of a utility role.

India now figures to see quite a bit more time back at the keystone, although Cincinnati’s recent acquisition of infielder Santiago Espinal gives them a superior defensive option if the club still wants to get India more work at first base, at designated hitter or perhaps even in left field. The mere fact that the Reds proactively acquired Espinal seemed at the time to be a harbinger of bad news regarding McLain, and that’s unfortunately proven to be the case.

Much has been made of Cincinnati’s wealth of infield talent, but the injury to McLain and an 80-game PED suspension for Noelvi Marte have thinned things out considerably. Some pundits and onlookers questioned the wisdom of signing Jeimer Candelario to a three-year, $45MM deal with such an enviable crop of young infielders, but circumstances have changed and Candelario now looks more like a vital piece of the infield mix than an arguably superfluous luxury addition. He’ll take the primary role at the hot corner, with De La Cruz at short, Espinal/India at second and Christian Encarnacion-Strand at first base. Versatile Spencer Steer can back up at any of those four spots, but he’s expected to function as the Reds’ primary left fielder in 2024.

The 24-year-old McLain will receive big league service time and pay while rehabbing his shoulder on the injured list. He finished the 2023 season at 140 days of service, meaning he’s still controllable for six full seasons. He’ll quite likely be a Super Two player following the 2025 season, positioning him to be arbitration-eligible four times rather than three, but he’ll remain under Reds control all the way through the 2029 campaign.

Matt McLain Headed For Second Opinion On Injured Shoulder

By Steve Adams | March 20, 2024 at 6:10pm CDT

6:10pm: Bell conceded this evening that McLain will not be available on Opening Day (via Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). He’s headed for a second opinion to determine the extent of the injury but now seems likely to at least begin the season on the injured list.

12:44pm: Reds infielder Matt McLain was scratched from the lineup Monday due to some discomfort in his left shoulder, prompting the club to have an MRI performed. While the team hasn’t divulged anything conclusive yet, manager David Bell provided an ominous update Wednesday, telling the Reds beat that the MRI found “something” and that the team is still gathering information and determining how to proceed (X link via Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer). There’s an unusually broad range of outcomes at this point, as Bell didn’t firmly rule out McLain for the Opening Day roster but also acknowledged that there’s a “possibility” of shoulder surgery.

The 17th overall pick in the 2021 draft, the now-24-year-old McLain made his big league debut in 2023 and immediately made an impact. In 89 games and 403 trips to the plate, he slashed .290/.357/.507 (128 wRC+) with 16 homers, 23 doubles, four triples and 14 stolen bases (in 19 tries). His 7.7% walk rate was a bit lower than average, while his 28.5% strikeout rate was well north of average.

McLain had some good fortune on balls in play (.385 BABIP), though some of that lofty BABIP is attributable to a huge 24.2% line-drive rate and strong 42.8% hard-hit rate. It’s still fair to project some regression in his performance, but even if he’s not hitting at the borderline star-caliber level he did in 2023, McLain has the look of an everyday fixture in the Reds’ lineup due both to his bat and his defensive versatility.

Though McLain was drafted as a shortstop, he split hit time between the two middle infield slots. Bell suggested earlier in camp that McLain was likelier to focus on second base this season. Elly De La Cruz is expected to take the lion’s share of reps at shortstop, though McLain could slide to that side of the bag in the event of further injury troubles for De La Cruz.

The Reds have a noted infield surplus which was only deepened when they signed Jeimer Candelario to a three-year deal over the winter. An 80-game PED suspension for promising 22-year-old Noelvi Marte has thinned out the perceived logjam a bit, and an absence for McLain would lend further clarity to the division of playing time around the diamond. As it stands, Candelario appears lined up for regular work at the hot corner, with De La Cruz at short, McLain at second, Christian Encarnacion-Strand at first base and Spencer Steer in left field. Former NL Rookie of the Year Jonathan India has been expected to bounce between second base, first base and designated hitter, though he could certainly reclaim regular playing time at second base if McLain heads to the injured list.

McLain picked up 140 days of major league service time in 2023, leaving him a bit more than a month shy of a full year (172 days). That means the Reds still have six full seasons of control over him, though he’ll very likely wind up reaching Super Two status and thus be eligible for arbitration four times rather than the standard three. The first of those four offseasons of arbitration eligibility would fall after the 2025 campaign. On his current trajectory, McLain wouldn’t qualify for free agency until the 2029-30 offseason.

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