An excellent rookie season for Reds infielder Matt McLain was brought to a sour end by an oblique strain. He didn’t play after August 27, missing the final month as the Reds came up a little shy of the postseason.
That injury is now behind him. McLain told reporters (including Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer) that he is working out and swinging without issue. The 24-year-old said he’s preparing for a defensive role at either middle infield position.
McLain split his rookie year between those spots. He saw a little more action on the left side, playing 465 innings at shortstop and 296 at second base. As things stand, McLain projects as Cincinnati’s starting shortstop. Arguably the most impressive of the Reds’ strong rookie class, he cemented himself as an everyday player with a .290/.357/.507 slash through his first 89 MLB contests.
Whether McLain sticks at shortstop likely depends on how Cincinnati proceeds with Jonathan India. The latter’s name has again come up in trade rumors since the offseason got underway. President of baseball operations Nick Krall pushed back somewhat on that possibility, categorizing any openness to dealing India more as general diligence than an indication they’re trying to subtract from an infield surplus.
Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Spencer Steer are all options for the left side of the infield. De La Cruz and Marte can handle either shortstop or third base. Encarnacion-Strand might be better suited at first base; Steer has third base experience but could play a bat-first utility role between the corners and designated hitter. It’s a strong collection of talent that allows the front office to consider swapping an infielder for pitching help even after the free agent additions of Nick Martinez and Emilio Pagán.
Marte hit a minor snag while playing in the Dominican Republic. Krall told reporters the 22-year-old strained a hamstring and will be shut down from finishing the winter ball season (relayed by Mark Sheldon of MLB.com). The issue isn’t expected to affect his readiness for Spring Training. Marte hit well following a late-season MLB debut, putting together a .316/.366/.456 showing in his first 35 big league games.
In additional injury updates, Krall said pitchers Nick Lodolo and Graham Ashcraft should be full-go for Spring Training (Goldsmith link). The former’s season was wrecked by recurring stress reactions in his left tibia. He didn’t pitch in the majors after May 6. Ashcraft sustained a stress reaction in the big toe on his right foot. He underwent season-ending surgery in the middle of September.
Steer can also play outfield.
I think India stays.
More Reds Notes from Redsfest:
Jonathan India got the 2nd biggest ovation after Elly De La Cruz during team introductions. He’s really loved here. I still think he makes the most sense to move based on his play and pay, but it will make a lot of fans unhappy.
At the Season Ticket Holder Q&A today, Spencer Steer said he was kinda digging LF. He made it sound as if that’s where he’s penciled in, but of course he’s ready to play wherever. He had never played outfield in his career and said he felt like golden retriever chasing down balls.
I always suspected Steer would stay there in LF with all the other infielders. He is not a bad outfielder by any means.
Steer has become my favorite red, loved watching him play all over the field last year, hell of a player.
Agreed. He’s a ballplayer. So is McLain, for that matter.
Jim Day introduced Matt McLain as a great “ballplayer.” I think the Reds have several guys like that with Steer and Friedl included. Steer said he’d even play Catcher, but he’d be afraid LOL. He probably should catch Andrew Abbott and not Hunter Greene.
I was there too. Apparently he’s ready to be the emergency catcher too because why not? Awesome dude..
I prefer Steer either in LF, 1B or DH. I don’t want him at 2B unless it is an emergency or something. Lot to be excited about in the Reds line up.
@Bobcastelliniscat He actually said 2B is where he feels most comfortable playing, but said he was digging LF.
I don’t think you’ll see him there much, unless it’s a late inning switch. Not with McLain and India around.
@MrRed55 I don’t think so either, but I think that’s where he’d pick if he were on the A’s.
Agreed with Steer in LF. He’s more than athletic enough to be a plus defender in COF but has showed to be not good in the IF. Could be some Adam Duvall vibes.
Plus, Steer obliterates lefties and we have some platoon partners already.
Ironically, despite left being his newest position, I thought he looked very natural and better than Senzel who converted to the outfield years ago.
“At the Season Ticket Holder Q & A today…” laughing and yawning at the same time.
Baseball Team
I thought the posts by persons at the Q & A were very interesting
Reds have their annual fan fest going on and season ticket holders got some premium access.
Glasnow has one year left so the high salary isn’t a big deal. He’s the best arm. Get him
All good news. No mention of TJ Antone. That’s the clean bill of health I want to hear about.
Reds seem like a great fit for Bieber. They need a veteran ace and geographically he wouldn’t have to go far. And the Reds are balling on a budget so they would appreciate his contract.
Williamson for bieber straight up ?
Seems fair but I don’t know if Cleveland wants another starter. They need a lefty reliever and an outfielder who can play center which I don’t think the Reds have to trade. Perhaps a swap of infielders.
Not unless Bieber is healthy and can be signed to a longer contract. Williamson is cheap and has a bunch of years before he is a FA.
I like Glasnow or Cease more for the Reds. But they will both also cost more than Bieber.
Glasnow makes a lot of money. Cease could work but will cost more in trade of course. Bieber is a good fit for the Reds.
I know you are obsessed with Bieber, but Glasnow is clearly the better pitcher. They are both fairly big injury risks and Glasnow is more expensive, but he’s a true #1 when on the mound. Bieber is more like a #3 at this point, based on his declining stats and velocity over the past couple of years. Glasnow’s contract shouldn’t be an issue, as the Reds have very little money on the books and it’s only for one year. That being said, I agree that Bieber would still improve their rotation and may cost less than Glasnow.
Glasnow has never pitched over 120 innings. Bieber pitched 200 in 2022. Bieber was top 10 in Cy Young in 2022 he’s not declining that’s just not true.
Bieber was hurt in both 2021 and 2023. It’s not a decline he’s had injury issues.
Dude his velocity has dropped off big time and his stats have clearly been declining the past couple of seasons. Those are facts, not my opinion. And everyone in one of the other threads was trying to tell you the same thing. He’s not the same pitcher he was at his peak. Glasnow, however, still flat out dominates when healthy. Injury risk, yes. But when on the mound, he pitches at a true ace level still.
He was top 10 in Cy Young voting in 2022.
How many top 10 Cy Young finishes do Reds players have in the last decade?
Of course he’s not as good as he was at his peak. Because he was the best pitcher in baseball at his peak. Only one way to go and it isn’t up.
Glasnow is coming off the best year of his career. And he STILL only pitched 120 innings. That’s not an ace that’s a lottery ticket you hope pays off.
Trevor Bauer won the Cy Young is 2020…
Hey so did Bieber
Bauer is available too…….
@Joel
Bieber ’22 vs ’23
exit velo: 89.9/91.6
hard hit % 43.1/47.8
k% last 4 years
41.1/33.1/25.0/20.1
xSlg last 4 year
.319/.385/.386/.446
If you can read these stats, you can see he’s declining year over year over year over year, and his rate of decline accelerated in ’23 over ’22.
I’m sure you’ll respond with some drivel about how’s he was injured in ’23 and how he will (somehow) bounce back and reverse all of his bad long term trends in ’24 and magically be an ace again. Just like Kluber did (or didn’t rather)..
Why did you use 2 years for the first couple sets of random stats and the 4 years for the rest????
You are cheery picking stats to try to win the internet.
Those 4 year totals he started from the absolute best in baseball. Of course he declined.
Ahh, you want to see 4 for all. (because apparently you don’t know how to look up such stats yourself)? OK
And no, they did not start out as the best in baseball, at all.
Exit velo: 89.3/89.7/89.9/91.6
hard hit % 43.1/43.6/43.1/47.8
All of his advanced stats for ’23 are worse than MLB avg. READ: #4 starter type, not ace.
He was hurt in 2023 fella. That’s not a decline that’s a pitcher who tried to pitch through injury and finally went on the IL.
He was THE BEST PITCHER IN BASEBALL IN 2020!! You are trying to use his success in 2020 as a way to say he’s declining when that’s total nonsense.
Injury or not in ’23, who cares what precipitated the decline?
You’re trying to use his prior year’s success to project him as the Ace he was then, while ignoring the fact that he has had an elbow injury-fueled decline that accelerated this year and that trend almost never reverses unless he gets TJ and misses a year +.
That’s not good news for any team that would receive him in trade and there is NO WAY any team would consider him an Ace, as you do.
Aaron Nola was not very good in 2021 or 2023 and he got 175 million. The Phillies consider Nola an ace. They didn’t just look at 2023 and let him sign somewhere else.
Guys get hurt. He has 1 year of team control left and will make maybe 13 million bucks. That’s worth the risk.
Joel P, I respectively disagree. The below (along with bottome 10 percentile FB velocity), shows how badly Bieber has declined. He will be a Kluber or Bumgarner, an albatross moving forward (some team will regret signing him as an FA to a 3 or 5 year deal):
2019 or 2020 Bieber, yes please.
2024 Bieber, no thanks, unless very cheap trade gets it done.
Bieber K/9
2019 — 10.9
2020 — 14.2
2021 — 12.5
2022 — 8.9
2023 — 7.5
2024? — 6.6?
2025? — ugly
He was hurt in both 2021 and 2023. Why would you assume he can’t bounce back from an injury????
Nola just got 7 years. Sonny Gray just got 25 million a year. And these pitchers have question marks too. All pitchers are risky.
Bieber is signed for 1 year. What is the worse that could happen? It’s not that bad.
I don’t know why people come out of the woodwork to claim Bieber is finished. People thought Bellinger was finished. Obviously he’s not. Injuries happen. Sometimes guys don’t recover but most of the time they do.
Reds lineup works best with
Elly 3B
McClain SS
India 2B
Encarnacion 1B
Steer LF
Friedl CF
Fraley RF
Marte, Benson rotate in and out along with DH
I agree except I’d say Marte earns lions share at some position this season. At some point this season, I think he solidifies himself at one position and someone else is more of the UT or DH role.
As a Cubs fan, I’m not looking forward to facing some of these guys for years to come. I’m admittedly not very high on Fraley, but Friedl is not talked about enough in my opinion, which is understandable with the influx of high end talent this year. This is a lineup that should win some games. Pitching rotation doesn’t sound bad on paper. Is it enough though? These guys aren’t far away from being legit. Eyes wide open on the North Side.
They are an ace away from being a potentially very good team next year, in my opinion. Would love to see them snag Glasnow. They reportedly are interested in him, as he would likely command a lesser package than Cease and has a lot more upside than Bieber.
Fraley’s ok as the strong side of a platoon. He should not be in a lineup against a LHP.
If that lineup is where things stand, is it best to keep all that talent knowing opportunities are going to come along for Marte who looks like he’s ready to be a major leaguer, or trade him or one of the others for cost controlled pitching?
I’d have thought a reunion with Gray would’ve made a lot of sense. A good pitcher now but a contract length that would be off the books when all that young talent starts to make for an increasing arb class. Stroman, ERod?
Thing that makes the most sense is to take a flyer on Bauer for next to nothing. Proven winner, cy young winner in Cincy before. PR nightmare, sure… but winning cures a lot of that.
People arent talking about marte enough..he could be the best of them if you truly believe hes best rotate at dh lol trade him ..he will fetch a ton compared to india..as a red sox fan id love to have marte
Marte is definitely easing the sting of losing Luis Castillo so far. They got quite a good package in return for him, as Marte is looking like a potential stud, and Edwin Arroyo looks like he could be a centerpiece in a trade for another high end starter.
As an A’s fan that has taken no joy in watching the team the last couple of years, it has been fun following the Reds. I have no geographical or family connection to the team, but I guess it is easy to gravitate to another low payroll team that is teeming with young talent and actually trying to win. Rooting for them from afar. I’m hoping they can pull off a big trade, something like Dylan Cease.
Thanks. I feel the same way. I’m obviously rooting for the Reds first, but I’m always rooting for the underdog.
I’m a Red Sox fan, but have been rooting heavily for the Reds too since mid-season last year. They have an exciting young team and I enjoy rooting for small market underdog type teams as well, especially when they are willing to spend some money and get serious about winning. The Reds almost signed Sonny Gray, and have paid up a bit for Martinez and Pagan, which shows they are making an effort to get back to winning.
If young SP like Abbott, Ashcraft, Greene and Lodolo continue to develop, and Williams has cured his control issues, Reds could be a very scary team for the next decade. The young hitters get most of the headlines, but their young pitchers deserve a few shout outs, as well.
NL Central is up for grabs in 2024, and even more so if the Brewers trade Burnes. St. Louis will be better (Couldn’t be worse than last year!), and the Cubbies have lots of cheese to spend on FA help. And let’s not totally discount the Pirates. Like the Reds and Brewers, they have some exciting young hitters, too.
Agreed. I hope for an SP1/SP2 type this off-season, which would move all those current young SPs down a notch, takign some pressure off each of them. ALSO, and more importantly, it would likely mean a good SP is hanging out in AAA, ready to plug-n-play in the rotation when one of the 5 SPs get an injury.
I’d love to get a Cease, Rodriguez (maybe my favorite due to no trade needed), M Keller, Glasnow, Singer, Ragans, etc. With this lineup and the solid-but-not-yet good young SPs, 2024 could be an eye-opening year. A couple of Lodolo, Greene, Abbott, Ashcraft or Williamson would HAVE to take the next step to being SP2 types, but its very possible.
To me Marte is the cream of the crop. Sure wish the SP need could have been done via free agent signing so we could hang on to everyone. Guess we tried pretty hard on Gray. It sounds like in these trade rumors the teams want young starters in return. I’m against that. Keep Ashcraft, Lodolo, Abbott.
Hopefully they can keep this team intact, u know how injuries happen with all players, losing one opens the door for another to slip in naturally, who’s our DH anyway, who lead off, u can never have enough pitching and I hope the Reds keep acquiring more, a quality starter, more relief help, and another bat
#bringbackbauer
There was not a funner team to watch than the small market Reds in 2023