Matt McLain

23-Year-Old ShortstopSS
2023 Fantasy Outlook
McLain hit seven homers and stole seven bases while hitting .271 in his first 23 games at Double-A. From there, he hit .217 with 10 home runs and 20 steals, and his elevated strikeout rate and elevated walk rate remained stable. The generously-listed 5-foot-11 middle infielder (likely to end up at second base) didn't chase at an alarming clip, but he also didn't swing enough at pitches in the zone, and when he did swing, he was taking mighty hacks and making contact at a poor 65.8% clip. The hope with McLain when the Reds selected him with the 17th overall pick in 2021 was that he would have at least an above-average hit tool with plus speed and sneaky power. Unfortunately, it seems like McLain is trying to be a three-true outcome hitter without possessing plus raw power, and he is less appealing in fantasy because of it. The Reds now have an abundance of infield prospect depth, and McLain doesn't rank among the best of the bunch. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
$Signed a one-year contract with the Reds in May of 2023.
Four more hits in win
SSCincinnati Reds
May 29, 2023
McLain went 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI, a run scored and a steal in Sunday's win over the Cubs.
ANALYSIS
McLain capped off his big week with a bang, tallying multiple hits for the third straight game while also notching his first big league steal. Over the last seven games, the 23-year-old has gone 15-for-31 with two homers, seven RBI, nine runs and a 3:6 BB:K. McClain has strictly hit out of the two spot across 12 starts thus far and is contributing to what is becoming a dangerous hitting trio at the top of the order with Jonathan India and Spencer Steer.
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Batting Stats
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2023
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
8
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+51%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+51%
OPS vs LHP
2022
No Stats
2021
No Stats
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021vs Left 1.375 16 5 1 3 1 .500 .500 .875
Since 2021vs Right .910 41 8 1 5 0 .324 .439 .471
2023vs Left 1.375 16 5 1 3 1 .500 .500 .875
2023vs Right .910 41 8 1 5 0 .324 .439 .471
2022vs Left 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2022vs Right 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021vs Left 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021vs Right 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+5%
OPS on Road
2023
 
 
+5%
OPS on Road
2022
No Stats
2021
No Stats
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021Home 1.036 32 7 2 5 0 .296 .406 .630
Since 2021Away 1.085 25 6 0 3 1 .478 .520 .565
2023Home 1.036 32 7 2 5 0 .296 .406 .630
2023Away 1.085 25 6 0 3 1 .478 .520 .565
2022Home 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2022Away 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021Home 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2021Away 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
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Stat Review
How does Matt McLain compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.38
 
BB Rate
10.5%
 
K Rate
28.1%
 
BABIP
.531
 
ISO
.220
 
AVG
.380
 
OBP
.456
 
SLG
.600
 
OPS
1.056
 
wOBA
.458
 
Exit Velocity
87.7 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
32.3%
 
Barrels/PA
5.3%
 
Expected BA
.284
 
Expected SLG
.432
 
Sprint Speed
26.5 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
41.2%
 
Line Drive %
32.4%
 
Fly Ball %
26.5%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Matt McLain See More
Todd's Takes: So Far, They're (Mostly) Right
5 days ago
Todd Zola checks in on whether this year's game is indeed as crispy as advertised and shares his thoughts from Wednesday's games, which included another blast from Jorge Soler.
Minor League Barometer: Risers & Fallers
8 days ago
Jesse Siegel looks at a few up-and-comers who've been shining this season.
NL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week
9 days ago
Dan Marcus profiles a couple NLers who could soon be back in the bigs.
DraftKings MLB: Saturday Breakdown
10 days ago
Dan Marcus figures the Yankees will do well offensively against the Reds.
Imminent Arrivals: Top 10 Prospects for Redraft Leagues, May 17
13 days ago
Chris Crawford runs down the top 10 prospects for redraft leagues, including Taj Bradley, who might get the call to the big leagues very soon.
2022 Fantasy Outlook
The Reds gave McLain the ninth-largest bonus in the 2021 draft ($4.625 million) after selecting him with the 17th-overall pick. His hit tool and plus speed are the top selling points, but he has sneaky pop as well. He hit .333/.434/.579 with nine home runs, nine steals (on 10 attempts) and a 34:34 K:BB in 47 games as a junior at UCLA. McLain was one of three first-round hitters to get tested with an assignment to High-A (Henry Davis and Sal Frelick were the others), and he handled himself quite well, logging a .273/.387/.424 slash line (127 wRC+), 20.2 K% and 14.3 BB%. He also stole 10 bases on 12 tries in 29 games. If the hit tool is as good as it seems, McClain's defensive versatility -- he can handle all three up-the-middle positions -- and plus speed will allow him to play almost every day and chip in around 20 steals. His eventual power output is TBD, but he could become a 15-20 homer threat, potentially settling in as a valuable five-category contributor with multi-position eligibility.
More Fantasy News
Continues hot hitting
SSCincinnati Reds
May 26, 2023
McLain went 3-for-5 with a walk and a run scored in Friday's 9-0 victory over the Cubs.
ANALYSIS
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Goes yard for second straight day
SSCincinnati Reds
May 25, 2023
McLain went 2-for-5 with a double, a solo home run and a second run scored in Wednesday's 10-3 win over the Cardinals.
ANALYSIS
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Launches first big-league homer
SSCincinnati Reds
May 23, 2023
McLain went 1-for-3 with a walk, a home run and three RBI in Tuesday's 8-5 loss to the Cardinals.
ANALYSIS
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Gets breather Wednesday
SSCincinnati Reds
May 17, 2023
McLain is not in the starting lineup Wednesday versus the Rockies.
ANALYSIS
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Batting second in debut
SSCincinnati Reds
May 15, 2023
McLain will start at shortstop and bat second in his big-league deubt Monday in Colorado.
ANALYSIS
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