Matt McLain

Matthew Michael McLain

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 175 lb.
• School University of California, Los Angeles
• High School Beckman High School
• Debut May 15, 2023

• Born August 6, 1999 in Orange, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Infielder Matt McLain was the 25th pick of the 2018 amateur draft, selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 1st round out of a high school in California. He was considered one of the top high school players in the country, and had the talent to be a top-10 pick, but he was expected to be a tough sign because of a strong commitment to attend UCLA. Still the D-Backs took a chance and drafted him, given they had rated him very highly and hoped to be able to dissuade him from going to college. However, at the end of the day, the two sides could not agree on a deal, as Arizona was not prepared to go much over the slot value of the pick in putting together a signing bonus, and McLain headed to UCLA.

He hit just .203 in his freshman season, but also played 61 games in one of the top programs in the country, competing against more seasoned competition. In 2020, he was off to a great start, hitting .397 in his first 13 games when the Coronavirus pandemic brought the season to a premature end. In the 2021 amateur draft, he was drafted #17 overall by the Cincinnati Reds after batting .333 with 9 homers and 36 RBIs in 47 games as a junior (he missed three weeks with a fractured thumb). After signing with the Reds, he played 31 games with the ACL Reds and Dayton Dragons, batting .283/.389/.462.

On April 17, 2022, he hit for the cycle for the AA Chattanooga Lookouts, needing just 7 pitches to achieve the feat. He went 4 for 4, scored 3 runs and drove in as many in a 7-6 win over the Birmingham Barons. He hit a two-run homer on the first pitch he saw in the 1st, singled in the 3rd on the second pitch, drove the first pitch for a double to the warning track in the 5th and came in to score, then grinded out two pitches before hitting the triple in the 7th. He was off to a fast start, batting .344 and slugging .875 in his first eight games. He hit .232/.363/.453 in 103 games that season, with 21 doubles and 17 homers. On May 4, 2023, he again hit for the cycle, this time at the AAA level with the Louisville Bats in a 12-10 win over the Omaha Storm Chasers; in that game, teammate Christian Encarnacion-Strand, hitting behind him in the line-up, banged three homers in what was an extremely rare combination. When he made his major league debut with the Reds two weeks later on May 15th, starting at shortstop and batting second against the Colorado Rockies, he became the first player from the first round of the 2021 draft to reach the majors, although 11th-round selection Chase Silseth had preceded him by a year and two days as the first player from the draft to make it. In his debut, he went 1 for 4 and scored 2 runs in a 9-8 loss. He quickly claimed a starting job for the surging Reds, and was hitting an even .300 after 50 games at the All-Star break as the regular shortstop. On July 21st, he hit his first career grand slam, hit off Justin Martinez of the Diamondbacks in the 5th inning of an 8-6 win. He finished the season at .290 in 89 games, with 16 homers and 50 RBIs, for an OPS+ of 127. He was named to the 2023 MLB All-Rookie Team as the second baseman and finished 5th in the voting for the 2023 National League Rookie of the Year Award.

Following his solid rookie season, Matt was counted on to be a key member of an up-and-coming Reds team in 2024, but he injured his left shoulder making a dive during fielding practice in spring training and had to undergo surgery for a torn labrum. By the time he was ready to return to action, the season was over, so his only action of the year came in the Arizona Fall League where he appeared in 13 games for the Glendale Desert Dogs. He was back in full health for the start of spring training in 2025. He played 147 games that year as the team's regular second baseman, batting .220 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs, for an OPS+ of just 75. In spite of this, the Reds made it into the postseason as the final Wild Card team in the National League and he went 2 for 7 with a double and a run scored as they were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Wild Card Series.

Matt was off to another disappointing season in the first couple of months of 2026, as he was batting just .209 with an OPS+ of 85 after 64 games, and the Reds were struggling as a team as well. He did set a record of sorts on June 8th when he was successful on three separate ABS challenges during a single plate appearance - that ended with a walk. The unusual plate appearance came against Jason Adam in the 8th inning of a game against the San Diego Padres, with the home plate umpire being veteran Lance Barrett. The walk did not have much consequence in what was a 5-2 loss. Matt was playing shortstop at the time, having taken over at the position for an injured Elly De La Cruz on May 31st.

Two of Matt's brothers are also baseball players: Sean McLain is an infielder in the minor leagues and Nick McLain was taken in the 2024 amateur draft.

Notable Achievements

• 2023 MLB All-Rookie Team

Further Reading

• Jesse Borek: "Cycle AND a 3-homer game? Triple-A Louisville brings the lumber: Reds' Nos. 5 and 6 prospects combine for seven hits, nine RBIs on double milestone day", mlb.com, May 4, 2023. [1]
• Theo DeRosa: "New ABS first: 3 successful challenges by a player in 1 plate appearance", mlb.com, June 9, 2026. [2]
• Steve Gilbert: "D-backs unable to sign top pick: Prep shortstop McLain expected to play collegiately at UCLA", mlb.com, July 6, 2018. [3]
• Mark Sheldon: "Reds draft UCLA shortstop McLain at No. 17", mlb.com, July 12, 2021. [4]
• Mark Sheldon: "'Very competitive' McLain brothers relish opportunity to share field", mlb.com, February 24, 2025. [5]
• Nick Trujillo: "McLain hits for the cycle on seven pitches", mlb.com, April 17, 2022. [6]

Related Sites

• Matt McClain on mlb.com
• BR Minors page