Cincinnati Reds to promote red-hot infield prospect

The Cincinnati Reds are set to call up infield prospect Matt McLain, according to Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer.  McLain is expected to make his MLB debut in the team's series-opener against the Rockies on Monday.  Since McLain is not currently on the 40-man roster, Cincinnati may have to make more than one transaction to accommodate his promotion onto the active roster.

The 17th overall pick of the 2021 draft, McLain was a highly touted player in his college days at UCLA and he has risen quickly through Cincinnati’s farm system.  His blazing-hot start in the minors this spring seems to have clinched his promotion, as McLain has hit an outstanding .346/.464/.713 with 12 homers over 168 plate appearances at Triple-A Louisville this season.

Even with just 37 games under his belt at the Triple-A level, these numbers are awfully difficult to ignore. And so, the 23-year-old infield prospect will now embark on his next and biggest test in the Show.  While McLain has played a good deal of second base in the minors, he has exclusively played shortstop this year and now looks to supplant the Kevin Newman/Jose Barrero combination currently working short with the big league team.

McLain was cited on the top-100 prospect lists from MLB Prospectus (77th) and MLB Pipeline (87th) prior to the 2022 season, but didn’t receive any top-100 attention heading into this year. His Triple-A surge moved him back to 95th on Pipeline’s most recent update to their ranking.  Per Pipeline’s scouting report, there was concern over McLain’s big spike in strikeouts at Double-A in 2022, with the outlet noting that “much of that stemmed from McLain trying to do too much at the plate as he was trying to figure out who he is as a pro hitter and he sold out for power too often.”

To that end, McLain has drastically and impressively cut down on his swing-and-miss this year, with almost as many walks (27) as strikeouts (33) for Louisville.  His plus speed hasn’t translated quite as well on the basepaths -- he has been caught five times in 10 steal attempts -- but McLain stole 27 bases in 30 tries at Double-A in 2022.

Baseball America’s report on the prospect is a little less optimistic about his future as a regular, explaining that “[McLain] projects as a super-utility player who can play a variety of positions including shortstop in a pinch.”  It remains to be seen if McLain’s long-term position will be shortstop, though beyond just defensive questions, his usage might also be impacted by the Reds’ oncoming rush of talented young infielders.  Elly De La Cruz is one of baseball’s elite prospects and is also expected to make his MLB debut at some point in 2023, while third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand shouldn’t be too far behind on the shuttle from Louisville.  Infielders Noelvi Marte, Edwin Arroyo and Cam Collier are also ranked within Pipeline’s top 100. And, of course, Jonathan India is already established as the Reds’ second baseman. Spencer Steer has been playing respectably as well in his rookie season.

It makes for a pretty nice “problem” for the Reds to have as they sort out who, exactly, will help comprise their infield of the future. With the team in rebuild mode at least through the rest of the 2023 season, they will have plenty of time to keep evaluating these youngsters.  McLain will have the initial chance at making a first impression. He might get bounced around the diamond early if De La Cruz is called up and takes over the shortstop job, though.

Since McLain was not included on at least two of the preseason top-100 lists from Pipeline, Baseball America or ESPN.com, he will not qualify for a full year of big league service time -- even if he finishes in the top two of Rookie Of The Year voting.  Assuming McLain remains in the majors for the rest of 2023, though, he should bank enough service time to potentially qualify for Super Two status and an extra year of arbitration eligibility.