Matt McLain

25-Year-Old Second Baseman2B

Cincinnati Reds

2025 Stats

AVG

.200

RBI

Rest-of-Season Projections

AVG

RBI

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2025 Fantasy Outlook

McLain was forced under the knife in late March to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder and never made it on to a big-league field in 2024. He appeared to be nearing a rehab assignment in August, but a stress reaction in his rib cage took a return off the table. The 25-year-old was able to make up for lost time a bit in the Arizona Fall League, where he slashed .240/.356/.520 with four homers, 12 RBI and one stolen base across 59 plate appearances. Durability has become a major question mark after he also missed the final month of his rookie season in 2023 with an oblique strain. However, McLain still appears to be a priority for the Reds, likely in center field after the team acquired Gavin Lux to play second base. While projecting a full season's worth of at-bats would be foolish entering 2025, McLain has shown an intriguing power/speed combo when on the diamond, and the boost provided by Great American Ball Park is no small one. Don't forget about him at the draft table. Read Past Outlooks

RANKS

Rest of Season

Overall Rank

Dynasty

From Preseason

#80

ADP

League Majors

Bats R

Throws R

40 Man Yes

Height 5'8"

Weight 170

DOB 8/6/1999

Born Laguna Hills, CA

College UCLA

Drafted 1st Rd 2021 CIN

Exits starting nine

2BCincinnati Reds

April 17, 2025

McLain is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Mariners.

ANALYSIS
McLain started the first two games upon his return from the 10-day injured list, but he'll get a breather for Thursday's series finale. Gavin Lux is at second base and batting fifth for the Reds on Thursday.

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Batting Stats

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2025

2024

2023

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2024 MLB Game Log

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2023 MLB Game Log

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Minor League Game Log

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Batting Order Slot Breakdown

vs Right-Handed Pitchers

vs RHP

vs Left-Handed Pitchers

vs LHP

Left/Right Batting Splits

Since 2023

+20%

OPS vs LHP

2025

Even Split

2024

No Stats

2023

+21%

OPS vs LHP

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023vs Left	.982	109	18	7	18	6	.313	.376	.606
Since 2023vs Right	.820	336	56	12	38	10	.272	.348	.472
2025vs Left	.821	8	1	1	1	1	.143	.250	.571
2025vs Right	.817	34	8	2	5	1	.214	.353	.464
2024vs Left	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2024vs Right	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2023vs Left	.995	101	17	6	17	5	.326	.386	.609
2023vs Right	.820	302	48	10	33	9	.278	.348	.473
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Minor League Splits→	View Minor League Split Stats

Home/Away Batting Splits

Since 2023

+26%

OPS at Home

2025

+350%

OPS at Home

2024

No Stats

2023

+26%

OPS at Home

	OPS	PA	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG
Since 2023Home	.965	218	41	13	32	7	.292	.376	.589
Since 2023Away	.763	227	33	6	24	9	.274	.335	.428
2025Home	.900	37	9	3	6	2	.226	.351	.548
2025Away	.200	5	0	0	0	0	.000	.200	.000
2024Home	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2024Away	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2023Home	.977	181	32	10	26	5	.304	.381	.596
2023Away	.774	222	33	6	24	9	.279	.338	.436
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Stat Review

How does Matt McLain compare to other hitters?

This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.

BB/K
Walk to strikeout ratio
BB Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
K Rate
The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
BABIP
Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
ISO
Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
AVG
Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
OBP
On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
SLG
Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
OPS
On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
wOBA
Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
Exit Velocity
The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
Hard Hit Rate
A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
Barrels/PA
The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
Expected BA
Expected Batting Average.
Expected SLG
Expected Slugging Percentage.
Sprint Speed
The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
Ground Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
Line Drive %
The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
Fly Ball %
The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.

BB/K

0.50

BB Rate

14.3%

K Rate

28.6%

BABIP

.200

ISO

.286

AVG

.200

OBP

.333

SLG

.486

OPS

.819

wOBA

.360

Exit Velocity

92.0 mph

Hard Hit Rate

34.8%

Barrels/PA

11.9%

Expected BA

.258

Expected SLG

.598

Sprint Speed

25.7 ft/sec

Ground Ball %

30.4%

Line Drive %

17.4%

Fly Ball %

52.2%

Prospect Rankings History

View Complete Matt McLain Prospect Ranking History

Advanced Batting Stats

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Additional Stats

Games By Position

Defensive Stats

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Batted Ball Stats

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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2024

2023

2022

McLain showed the makings of an incredibly well-rounded player in 89 games as a rookie before an oblique injury ended his season at the end of August. Following his mid-May call-up, McLain slashed .290/.357/.507 with 16 home runs and 14 steals in 19 attempts, briefly putting himself in the Rookie of the Year conversation alongside Corbin Carroll. Statcast throws some cold water on his debut, saying he overperformed his batting average by 35 points (.255 xBA) and his slugging by a whopping 72 points (.435 xSLG). His strikeout and walk rates leave something to be desired (28.5 K%, 7.7 BB%), but McLain showed better plate skills in the minors and should put more balls in play moving forward at the super-hitter-friendly Great American Ball Park. Despite the caveats, the Reds have to be excited about what the 2021 first-round pick showed in his first exposure to big-league pitching. McLain is also a plus defender and enters 2024 with eligibility at both shortstop and second base.

McLain hit seven homers and stole seven bases while hitting .271 in his first 23 games at Double-A. From there, he hit .217 with 10 home runs and 20 steals, and his elevated strikeout rate and elevated walk rate remained stable. The generously-listed 5-foot-11 middle infielder (likely to end up at second base) didn't chase at an alarming clip, but he also didn't swing enough at pitches in the zone, and when he did swing, he was taking mighty hacks and making contact at a poor 65.8% clip. The hope with McLain when the Reds selected him with the 17th overall pick in 2021 was that he would have at least an above-average hit tool with plus speed and sneaky power. Unfortunately, it seems like McLain is trying to be a three-true outcome hitter without possessing plus raw power, and he is less appealing in fantasy because of it. The Reds now have an abundance of infield prospect depth, and McLain doesn't rank among the best of the bunch.

The Reds gave McLain the ninth-largest bonus in the 2021 draft ($4.625 million) after selecting him with the 17th-overall pick. His hit tool and plus speed are the top selling points, but he has sneaky pop as well. He hit .333/.434/.579 with nine home runs, nine steals (on 10 attempts) and a 34:34 K:BB in 47 games as a junior at UCLA. McLain was one of three first-round hitters to get tested with an assignment to High-A (Henry Davis and Sal Frelick were the others), and he handled himself quite well, logging a .273/.387/.424 slash line (127 wRC+), 20.2 K% and 14.3 BB%. He also stole 10 bases on 12 tries in 29 games. If the hit tool is as good as it seems, McClain's defensive versatility -- he can handle all three up-the-middle positions -- and plus speed will allow him to play almost every day and chip in around 20 steals. His eventual power output is TBD, but he could become a 15-20 homer threat, potentially settling in as a valuable five-category contributor with multi-position eligibility.

More Fantasy News

On base three times in return

2BCincinnati Reds

April 16, 2025

McLain went 0-for-2 with three walks, an RBI and two runs scored in Tuesday's 8-4 win over the Mariners.

ANALYSIS
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Back from injured list

2BCincinnati Reds

April 15, 2025

The Reds reinstated McLain (hamstring) from the 10-day injured list Tuesday.

ANALYSIS
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Expected back when first eligible

2BCincinnati Reds

Hamstring

April 11, 2025

Reds manager Terry Francona said Friday that he's pretty confident McLain (hamstring) will be ready for activation from the 10-day injured list when first eligible Tuesday, Charlie Goldsmith of the Dayton Daily News reports.

ANALYSIS
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Placed on injured list

2BCincinnati Reds

Hamstring

April 8, 2025

The Reds placed McLain (hamstring) on the 10-day injured list Tuesday due to a left hamstring strain.

ANALYSIS
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Available off bench Monday

2BCincinnati Reds

Hamstring

April 7, 2025

McClain (hamstring) is not in the Reds' starting lineup against the Giants on Monday but is available off the bench, Pat Brennan of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors

Changes agencies

2BCincinnati Reds

March 14, 2025

According to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.com, McLain hired Vayner Baseball to serve as his agent Friday.

ANALYSIS
McLain is a Super 2 player who is entering his final year of pre-arbitration, so contract negotiations are on the horizon even if there's no traction on extension talks with the Reds. The 25-year-old made a huge splash as a rookie in 2023 with 16 homers, 14 steals and an .864 OPS in 89 games, but a torn labrum in his shoulder sidelined him for the entirety of last season.

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