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Cincinnati Reds Moving Young Star Matt McLain to Centerfield in the Arizona Fall League!? |OTB Clips

  • October 30, 2024



Cincinnati Reds Moving Young Star Matt McLain to Centerfield in the Arizona Fall League!? |OTB Clips

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Reds’ infielder returns to Fall League to find his big league routine
October 29th, 2024
Jonathan Mayo

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — After missing the entirety of the 2024 season following left shoulder surgery, Matt McLain needed at-bats. Even though the Reds infielder had 365 big-league at-bats in 2023 and received Rookie of the Year votes, he opted to come back to the Arizona Fall League, where he played as a prospect in 2022.

It took a while for the 25-year-old McLain to be able to play regularly, getting two games in early and then missing more than a week. Now ready to get back into a routine, he faced another problem: Where were those needed plate appearances going to come from? The Glendale Desert Dogs had a lot of infielders on the roster, so there were only so many games to go around. McLain, always one to do whatever it took to be in the lineup, signed up immediately when an alternative was offered.

“I talked with our farm director, Jeremy Farrell,” McLain said. “There are a bunch of guys, rules about how often guys have to play and I was a really late add to the team. It was a conversation of, ‘If you want more at-bats, you might have to try other positions.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, of course. I just want to play.’”

More on the Arizona Fall League:
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And that’s how McLain started in center field for Glendale during their 11-7 loss at Salt River on Tuesday afternoon.

It’s not that he’s never played the position, but it has been a while: He served as UCLA’s center fielder regularly back in 2019, his freshman year with the Bruins. After hundreds of games on the dirt since, mostly at shortstop, the rest at second — where his first five AFL starts came — it must have been easy to re-acclimate, just like riding a bike.

“No, it’s not,” McLain said. “It’s tough, it’s a different challenge for sure. It’s a little bit slower pace, so you have to be more locked in.”

There’s a certain chance a player is making with a move like this, especially one who is coming back from a serious shoulder injury. Reps are important, but being in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar position defensively could make injury more likely.

“There’s definitely a risk there, but that’s a part of the game,” McLain said. “There’s risk everywhere; no matter where I was going to play, there was going to be risk. At this point, it’s just about the at-bats, getting back in rhythm with the at-bats. To get in the lineup is a good thing for me right now.”

McLain reports being 100 percent — “I finally feel normal.” He hopes to use the remainder of his time here to keep getting his timing back and rediscover the routine that made him look like a big league regular a year ago. It’s only been 19 at-bats over six games, but he’s picked up six hits (.316/.500/.737) and four of them have been for extra-bases.

3 comments

  2. Can we stop moving our players around to different positons. I think impossible to have a good defense if we move everyone around the time. Keep steer in left field . Keep mcclain at 2nd keep elly at ss. I dont understand this and how it can help our teams weakness which is th3 defense for 4 years straight

  3. You guys need to chill out and quit worrying about injuries. You act as if one injury ruins a player for life. McLain, CES, Friedl, and especially Lodolo will be fine. Stop talking about injuries all the time. These are athletes in the peak of health. They get hurt because they play hard and compete. I've been a Reds fan since 1960 and have seen injuries come and go. And, Lodolo will be the ace of the st aff in '25.

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