McLain brothers in lineup together again Arizona Fall League

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The world looked a lot different the last time Matt McLain and Sean McLain started in the same lineup on Aug. 10, 2020.

No longer with their college teams at UCLA and Arizona State, the Orange County natives joined the Santa Barbara Foresters of the California Collegiate League and helped take the club all the way to the championship game. Matt started at shortstop and led off with Sean playing to his right at third base and batting ninth in a starting lineup that included future Major Leaguers Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Jace Jung and Nick Nastrini. The brothers combined to go 5-for-10 with a homer, a double, three RBIs and three stolen bases in a 12-3 win over the Cheney Diamond Dawgs.

Needless to say, the McLains know a thing or two about playing together on loaded rosters dating back to their time at Beckman High School in Irvine. And while they thought that Foresters title game could be the last time they shared the diamond, baseball had other plans.

Now in the Reds and Dodgers organizations respectively, Matt and Sean started in the same lineup again Saturday, this time for Glendale in the Arizona Fall League at Goodyear Ballpark, with the former batting second and starting at second base and the latter batting fifth as the DH.

“It's been a while, and it might be the last time,” said Matt, 25. “It's just fun being out there.“

The McLain pairing is both serendipitous and unlucky.

Matt is the rare Fall Leaguer with Major League experience after playing 89 games for Cincinnati in 2023. Having finished fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting, the middle infielder was expected to be a key contributor in the Reds’ youth movement, but he underwent left shoulder surgery in late March that knocked him out for the entire ‘24 Major League season.

As Cincy explored options to get him competitive at-bats before the year was out, the organization considered the six-week AFL campaign over other winter-ball options. It just so happened that Reds representatives were slated to go to Glendale, home of the Dodgers’ Spring Training complex.

“I wasn’t sure where I was going to go, and they added me last-minute,” Matt said. “I was fortunate to get the opportunity. Didn’t know if I was going to be with him or a different team, but just the fact that it happened like this is cool.”

It was still a process to get the older McLain, who struck out in all three of his at-bats on Saturday, into a spot where the Fall League could even be an option. Months of recovery and rehab were grueling for a player who had such high hopes for 2024, and that operation is still ongoing in the desert; before Saturday, McLain hadn’t played in nine days as he was still “ramping up” to playing shape. He had been hot before the layoff, going 4-for-6 with a homer and two doubles in his first two Desert Dogs games.

“I've learned a lot about myself, locked in the training room and not being able to play on the field,” he said. “It is not fun. The most important thing is being on the field and being available. So I learned that and to try to take care of my body in different ways and be ready to go next year.”

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Sean, 23, has gone through his own injury issues before he’s even made his Major League debut. The 2022 fifth-rounder played in only eight Minor League games in 2023 after suffering a quad injury in his first Spring Training. He split 95 games this season between Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and High-A Great Lakes, finishing with a .215/.326/.337 line and six homers. He played all four infield spots in 2024 but has focused mostly on second and third in the Fall League.

The 5-foot-9 right-handed hitter went 0-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base in Saturday’s 1-0, seven-inning win over Salt River. He’s gotten more playing time than his sibling (eight games) and is also performing solidly (6-for-20, one homer, seven walks). But it’s one thing to share a clubhouse with new faces and exciting prospects. It’s another to share it with a guy you recognize from the backyard from 20 years ago.

“He’s hitting before me, so I’m asking him, ‘Hey, what’d you see?’” Sean said. “He’s giving me information on the guy, what his pitches look like. Now, I just try to go up there and hit it. It’s good to soak up information from him and learn from him.”

The Fall League is only one-third of the way through its season, so there could be more opportunities for the McLains to appear in the same lineup again. But any keen AFL observer might be playing a game of What If. The White Sox also sent their prospects to Glendale, and Chicago just happened to draft third McLain brother Nick in the third round out of Arizona State this past July. That particular sibling might have to wait for his Fall League turn.

“Nick’s not good enough yet,” Matt said, laughing. “He’ll get there, but not yet.”

Sometimes, you can’t turn off being a brother.