Reds fans’ growing obsession with Sal Stewart says a lot about Matt McLain

Cincinnati Reds infielder Matt McLain continues to struggle in 2025. After going 5-for-16 with three home runs during the first four games of the season, McLain has posted a hideous .216/.296/.307 slash line with just eight home runs and 123 strikeouts since April 1.

The month of August has been extremely unkind to the Reds' second baseman. McLain is hitting an embarrassing .208 with a .484 OPS and 19 strikeouts 17 games. While McLain continues to play above-average defense at the keystone, he looks totally lost at the dish, and his struggles have fueled Reds fans' growing obsession with top prospect Sal Stewart.

Under normal circumstances, the idea of calling up Stewart at this stage of the season with so much on the line would most likely be viewed as a mistake. The Reds are just 1½ games back of the New York Mets in the NL Wild Card chase and the 21-year-old barely has a month's worth of at-bats at Triple-A. While Stewart's been hitting the cover off the ball, the Reds would probably prefer to keep him in the minors rather than call him to the major leagues.

Reds fans’ growing obsession with Sal Stewart says a lot about Matt McLain

But with every passing game, McLain looks worse and Stewart looks better. This dichotomy is putting Nick Krall and the Reds front office in very difficult position. On the one hand, swapping out Stewart for McLain would seem like the right move, but the Reds' top prospect has very little experience in the field away from third base, and Cincinnati is not going to send Ke'Bryan Hayes to the bench.

Stewart's bat in no doubt what excites the Reds fanbase, but defense cannot be ignored. Sometimes preventing runs is just as important as creating them, and Stewart's defensive prowess is somewhat of an unknown at the moment.

Though some scouts believe he can play second base, others aren't so sure. Would the Reds really look to Stewart to take over at second base for McLain with only 14 Minor League starts there this season? McLain has been one of Cincinnati's best defenders with 3 outs above average (OAA), placing him third on the team behind Hayes (17 OAA) and Spencer Steer (5 OAA).

From the outside, many Reds fans see this swap as a no-brainer. The reality, however, is very different. Once the Reds make the call to go with Stewart, that's it. There's no going back. Rather than outright replacing McLain in the starting lineup, the Reds may prefer to call up Stewart when roster expand in September or if the team suffers an injury to one of their position players.

Fans aren't wrong to call for Stewart's promotion — he looks like the real deal. Nevertheless, if McLain weren't struggling as badly as he is, those incessant calls for Stewart to replace him wouldn't be so deafening. Reds fans would undoubtely be much more patient if McLain were actually producing at the plate.

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