Reds infielder Matt McLain has all the motivation he needs to prove everyone wrong

One of the biggest mysteries the Cincinnati Reds will need to solve during the 2026 season is which version of Matt McLain will show up. Will they get the 2023 version, who looked like a budding star who finished fifth in the Rookie of the Year voting? Or, will they get the offensively diminished version who registered a .643 OPS last season?

It seems clear that the shoulder injury that cost McLain the entire 2024 campaign played some role in his struggles last year, but to what extent? And how much longer can they afford to wait around for him to prove that he can hit at a high level?

Still, McLain has his merits, even if he's not hitting a ton. Despite a 77 wRC+ last season, he still produced 1.4 fWAR thanks in no small part to his superb fielding and solid baserunning.

Given those redeeming qualities and a dearth of overall talent at the keystone, you'd expect McLain to have a decent ranking among MLB second basemen, but not all see it that way. ESPN's Buster Olney put together his list of top-10 second basemen, complete with honorable mentions, and McLain was nowhere to be found. For the 26-year-old, this should be bulletin board material.

Matt McLain's exclusion from ESPN's top-10 list should provide additional drive for the Reds youngster to bounce back

While fans understand McLain not being ranked among the top-10, some of the honorable mentions listed in his stead will have folks scratching our heads. For example, Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies earned a shout-out, but his .671 OPS wasn't all that much better than McLain's, while his defense was significantly worse, coming in at -4 outs above average versus the 6 OAA the Cincinnati youngster registered. Albies was worth 1.3 fWAR, coming in below McLain.

The 2021 first-round pick saw two big underlying issues in 2025 that could be explained away by the shoulder. First, there was a decrease in the frequency with which his contact yielded an optimal launch angle. In 2023, McLain posted an elite launch angle sweet spot percentage of 39.6%, which came in at the 94th percentile. In 2025, that plummeted to 34%, a 43rd percentile performance.

The second, which might be related to the first, was a dip in average bat speed. McLain's swings averaged 70.3 mph in 2023 and fell to 69.7 mph in 2025. A 0.6 miles per hour drop doesn't sound like much, but when you have just split seconds to react, it can make all the difference. Not only does the more lethargic speed make it more difficult to make hard contact, but it also can mean contact is being made at a less-optimal point in the bat path, which could impact the angles.

McLain has plenty of incentive, besides pride, to motivate him to rebound. The Reds are hedging their bets by working out Sal Stewart and Spencer Steer at second during spring training. Moreover, top prospect Edwin Arroyo is also waiting in the wings and could push for a big league job at some point in 2026.

On top of that, a bounce-back year could trigger extension conversations that could end up being quite lucrative. The omission from the rankings is simply an extra push.

The truth of the matter is that Cincinnati doesn't need McLain to be an .850-plus OPS slugger like he was in 2023. If he just hits at a league-average or slightly better clip, that, when paired with his defensive chops and speed on the bases, will make him valuable enough to vault into the top-10 at the position. Now it's up to him to make that happen.