Continued growth of Matt McLain will be pivotal to the Reds success

Since making his major league debut on May 15th, Matt McLain has shown why Cincinnati Reds fans have a lot to be excited about.

McLain was selected 17th overall by the Reds in the 2021 MLB Draft. The 23-year-old is yet another young, and promising, infielder to come out up through the Reds organization.

McLain quickly provided in his professional debut with the rookie-level Arizona Complex League Reds and was promoted to High-A Dayton shortly thereafter. Between the two teams, he hit three home runs, tallied 19 RBIs, and even managed to be a threat on the bags as well, picking up 10 stolen bases in just 31 games played.

Matt McLain's growth will be pivotal to the Reds success.

Last season, Matt McLain began his first full minor league season at Double-A Chattanooga. He continued his stellar play there and continued to show why his potential was massive. In 103 games played with the team, McLain hit 17 home runs and picked up 58 RBIs, and stole 27 bases in the process.

To begin this season, McLain was added to the Reds Triple-A roster in Louisville. After hitting 12 home runs, and picking up 40 RBIs, while tallying 10 stolen bases, McLain was called-up to The Show.

Since joining the Cincinnati Reds 19 games ago, McLain has been on an absolute tear at the plate. He leads the team in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS. These are fantastic numbers for a rookie.

More than just team stats, McLain also ranks among league leaders in runs, hits, on-base percentage, hitting, and doubles. Overall, McLain is a very promising prospect, and while the Reds already have an incredible crop of young shortstops, McLain could prove to be the next great one to come out of the Cincinnati organization.

Matt McLain’s bat has been much more explosive this year than both Jose Barrero’s and Kevin Newman’s, seemingly displacing both after less than 20 games. Elly De La Cruz was just called up on Tuesday, and who knows where he will play on a regular basis once he makes it to the big leagues.

I don’t know about you, but an infield that sees the likes of De La Cruz, McLain, and Jonathan India is sure to be a very exciting one for years to come.