Cincinnati Reds Calling Up One of Team's Top Prospects Monday

The Cincinnati Reds are continuing the youth movement, bringing up infielder and top-five prospect Matt McLain on Monday. You can learn more about him here.
Cincinnati Reds Calling Up One of Team's Top Prospects Monday
Cincinnati Reds Calling Up One of Team's Top Prospects Monday /
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As one young prospect goes down, another comes up for the Cincinnati Reds. 

Yesterday, we wrote about starting pitcher Nick Lodolo hitting the injured list with a calf issue. But now, the team is primed to bring up another of its top prospects: Infielder Matt McLain.

From Reds Insider Charlie Goldsmith:

The Reds plan to call up shortstop prospect Matt McLain, on Monday a source confirmed to The Enquirer. A big piece of the Reds' core is heading to the big leagues.

McLain is one of several exciting young prospects in the Reds organization. After getting multiple prospects in recent trade deals with the Mariners and Twins, in addition to standout Elly De La Cruz, the Reds are primed for a good future.

He's currently the fifth-ranked prospect in the organization and No. 95 in the MLB Top 100. Here's part of his MLB.com profile:

A first-round pick out of high school in 2018, McLain headed to UCLA rather than sign with the D-backs. After posting an OPS over 1.000 in both the shortened 2020 season and then in a solid 2021 campaign with the Bruins despite a thumb injury, McLain landed in the first round again, this time signing with the Reds for $4.625 million as the No. 17 overall pick in that summer’s Draft. Thought to be an advanced college hitter who could move quickly, McLain struggled at the plate with an aggressive move to Double-A for his first full season and didn’t hit well in the Arizona Fall League.

After striking out in just 15 percent of his plate appearances at UCLA in 2021, that rate skyrocketed to just over 28 percent in 2022 with the Reds. 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. The right-handed hitter does have a feel for the strike zone -- he had a 15.5 percent walk rate in Double-A -- and there’s confidence he’ll learn to make better swing decisions and get back to his high-contact rate overall approach at the plate.

McLain’s speed has played well as a pro and that should continue to be an asset.

The Reds open up a series with the Rockies on Monday at 8:40 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.