Matthew Michael McLain (born August 6, 1999) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

. The Reds selected McLain with the 17th overall pick in the 2021 MLB draft and he made his MLB debut in 2023.

Amateur career

McLain attended

Arnold O. Beckman High School Arnold O. Beckman High School is a public school in Irvine, California, Irvine, California, United States, serving 3,013 students from grades 9 through 12. The $94 million facility was opened on August 30, 2004. The World Languages Building ...

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

. He committed to attend the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

(UCLA), to play

for the

. As a high school senior, he batted .369 with three home runs. He was selected by the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

in the first round with the 25th overall selection of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

. However, he did not sign, and instead chose to enroll at UCLA. During the summer of 2018, McLain played in the

West Coast League The West Coast League (WCL) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 2005, comprising teams from Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alberta. The WCL was previously named the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League (WCCB ...

for the

Bellingham Bells The Bellingham Bells are a collegiate summer baseball team in the West Coast League. The team is composed of college baseball players from teams around the U.S. Originally founded as an expansion team in the Pacific International League, the Be ...

, and was awarded the Top Prospect Award. As a freshman at UCLA in 2019, he appeared in 61 games (with sixty being starts) in which he

slashed Ash are a Northern Irish rock band formed in Downpatrick, County Down in 1992 by vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray. As a three-piece, they released mini-album '' Trailer'' in 1994 and full-lengt ...

.203/.276/.355 with four home runs and thirty RBIs. That summer, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

, and was West division MVP of the league's all-star game. In 2020, McLain played in 13 games and batted .397 with four home runs before the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, he missed three weeks due to a fractured thumb, but still hit .333 with nine home runs and 36 RBIs in 47 games.

Professional career

The

selected McLain in the first round, with the 17th overall pick, in the

2021 Major League Baseball draft The 2021 Major League Baseball draft took place on July 11–13, 2021. In conjunction with the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, the draft was held in Denver. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was s ...

. McLain signed with the Reds on July 26, 2021. McLain made his professional debut with the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Arizona Complex League Reds The Arizona Complex League Reds are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is composed m ...

and was promoted to the

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark. In 2011, they broke the record for most ...

of the

High-A Central The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizati ...

. Over 31 games between the two teams, he slashed .283/.389/.462 with three home runs, 19 RBIs, and ten stolen bases. For the 2022 season, he was promoted to the Reds' Double-A affiliate, the

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are based in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

. In 103 games for Chattanooga, McLain slashed .232/.363/.453 with 17 home runs, 58 RBI, and 27 stolen bases. McLain was assigned to the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, wi ...

to begin the 2023 season. In 38 games, McLain hit .348/.474/.710 with 12 home runs, 40 RBI, and 10 stolen bases. On May 15, 2023, the Reds announced that McLain would be promoted to the major leagues for the first time the following day. In 89 games for Cincinnati, he batted .290/.357/.507 with 16 home runs, 50 RBI, and 14 stolen bases. On August 28, McLain was placed on the injured list with a right oblique strain. He began a rehab assignment with Triple–A Louisville on September 23, however he was shut down for the season on September 26 after aggravating the injury. On March 26, 2024, McLain underwent shoulder surgery to repair the labrum and some damaged cartilage, ruling him out indefinitely.

Personal life

McLain's brothers, Nick and Sean, also play professional baseball.

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:McLain, Matt 1999 births Living people Arizona Complex League Reds players Bellingham Bells players Chattanooga Lookouts players Cincinnati Reds players Dayton Dragons players Glendale Desert Dogs players Louisville Bats players Major League Baseball shortstops Baseball players from Orange, California UCLA Bruins baseball players Wareham Gatemen players