Reds' infielder returns to Fall League to find his big league routine

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- After missing the entirety of the 2024 season following left shoulder surgery, Matt McLain needed at-bats. Even though the Reds infielder had 365 big-league at-bats in 2023 and received Rookie of the Year votes, he opted to come back to the Arizona Fall League, where he played as a prospect in 2022.

It took a while for the 25-year-old McLain to be able to play regularly, getting two games in early and then missing more than a week. Now ready to get back into a routine, he faced another problem: Where were those needed plate appearances going to come from? The Glendale Desert Dogs had a lot of infielders on the roster, so there were only so many games to go around. McLain, always one to do whatever it took to be in the lineup, signed up immediately when an alternative was offered.

“I talked with our farm director, Jeremy Farrell,” McLain said. “There are a bunch of guys, rules about how often guys have to play and I was a really late add to the team. It was a conversation of, ‘If you want more at-bats, you might have to try other positions.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, of course. I just want to play.’”

And that’s how McLain started in center field for Glendale during their 11-7 loss at Salt River on Tuesday afternoon.

It’s not that he’s never played the position, but it has been a while: He served as UCLA’s center fielder regularly back in 2019, his freshman year with the Bruins. After hundreds of games on the dirt since, mostly at shortstop, the rest at second -- where his first five AFL starts came -- it must have been easy to re-acclimate, just like riding a bike.

“No, it’s not,” McLain said. “It’s tough, it’s a different challenge for sure. It’s a little bit slower pace, so you have to be more locked in.”

There’s a certain chance a player is making with a move like this, especially one who is coming back from a serious shoulder injury. Reps are important, but being in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar position defensively could make injury more likely.

“There’s definitely a risk there, but that’s a part of the game,” McLain said. “There’s risk everywhere; no matter where I was going to play, there was going to be risk. At this point, it’s just about the at-bats, getting back in rhythm with the at-bats. To get in the lineup is a good thing for me right now.”

McLain reports being 100 percent -- “I finally feel normal." He hopes to use the remainder of his time here to keep getting his timing back and rediscover the routine that made him look like a big league regular a year ago. It’s only been 19 at-bats over six games, but he’s picked up six hits (.316/.500/.737) and four of them have been for extra-bases.

“I’m finally feeling the flow with the game a little bit and trying to build up my workload day-to-day so that at the end of it I can say I was ready to go every day, have a little bit of an offseason, get right back into it, ready to go for spring,” he said.

One of those extra-base hits came on Tuesday, a Statcast projected 431 foot shot to straightaway center that landed in the cactus above the batter’s eye at Salt River Field. McLain displayed his customary humility about the blast that was over 102 mph off his bat.

“He threw me two sliders,” McLain said about D-backs No. 16 prospect Dylan Ray. “I should’ve hit them. Took them and then ... took a couple of good pitches, got a fastball up in the zone, and the wind helped me out.”

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While McLain is willing to play anywhere on the field in the big leagues, he knows he’s not likely to get a lot of time in center at Great American Ball Park in 2025. But he’s thrilled to do it here as much as possible so he can be ready to help Cincinnati next season. And anyone who thought there might be some big league attitude in coming to play for Glendale clearly doesn’t know McLain very well.

“I’m just excited,” McLain said. “It was either here or winter ball. I chose here. I live here, trainers are here, the Reds complex is here. Just the chance to get at-bats, I don’t care where it is, what level, the fact that I have to come back here after being in the big leagues, I don’t care. It’s just baseball at the end of the day and it’s just fun.”