McLain went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 12-2 loss to the Marlins.
McLain got the Reds out early with a first-inning home run, his 10th of the season and first in 14 games. The long ball snapped an 0-for-18 run for McLain, who's batting just .107 (3-for-28) during the month of July.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Three hits in loss
Rotowire
McLain went 3-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in Monday's 13-6 loss to Boston.
McLain has cooled off a bit since he was moved from the bottom of the order to second, but he's still hitting much better than he was through much of April and May. In the eight games since the promotion, McLain is batting .250 (8-for-32) with a home run, a double, four RBI and six runs scored. His .213 batting average is the highest its been since early April.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Bats second against lefty
Rotowire
McLain batted second and went 0-for-5 with a run scored in Tuesday's 5-4 extra-innings win over the Yankees.
McLain was moved up to second in the order the previous two games against right-handers and was used in that same spot against a lefty Tuesday. It appears a recent surge has locked him in as the second hitter against pitchers of either handedness. Prior to his promotion up the batting order, McLain had batted .327 with a .917 OPS over 16 contests.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Slugs homer as No. 2 hitter
Rotowire
McLain went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Sunday's 4-1 win over St. Louis.
McLain gave the Reds an early lead when he belted a first-inning home run, which extended his hit streak to 10 games. A season-opening slump prompted manager Terry Francona to drop McLain to eighth or ninth in the order over the last several weeks, but he moved into the No. 2 spot Sunday for just the second time since mid-May. In his last 15 games, McLain has posted a .340/.421/.560 line with three home runs and eight RBI, and his continued surge at the plate could result in him settling into the two hole on a more consistent basis.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Deposits pair of doubles
Rotowire
McLain went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored in Saturday's 6-5 loss to the Cardinals.
McLain continued his strong June, extending his hitting streak to nine games while notching his first three-hit performance of the season. The 25-year-old has struggled overall in 2025, slashing just .209/.302/.340 with 15 extra-base hits and 26 RBI through 68 games. However, he appears to be rounding into form and showing flashes of his 2023 self, when he posted a .290/.357/.507 line with 43 extra-base hits and 50 RBI in only 89 games.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Adds to productive stretch in win
Rotowire
McLain went 1-for-2 with an RBI in Wednesday's 4-2 win over the Twins.
McLain has been a pretty big disappointment with a .619 OPS this season, but he's slowly beginning to find a rhythm recently. The 25-year-old second baseman is slashing .293/.396/.463 with two home runs, two doubles and eight RBI over his last 48 plate appearances (13 games). McLain lost all of last season due to injury and has consistently hit ninth for over a month, but perhaps manager Terry Francona will consider moving the middle infielder back up the order if he continues to swing a hot bat.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Piles on in win
Rotowire
McLain went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Saturday's 11-1 win over the Tigers.
McLain's three-run blast in the eighth inning provided further cushion for Cincinnati in the blowout win. Even though he's gone a respectable 7-for-26 at the plate over his last eight games, McLain is still batting just .186 on the season on the heels of a rough April and May. He continues to bat ninth in the order on a regular basis, though he'll elevate to the No. 2 spot for Sunday's series finale while the Tigers send left-handed opener Tyler Holton to the hill.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Hits go-ahead homer in win
Rotowire
McLain went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.
McLain broke a 2-2 tie with what proved to be the game-winning homer off Zac Gallen in the seventh inning. It was the 25-year-old's first long ball since May 15, and he's showing signs of life with five hits and four RBI over his past five games. On the year, he owns a disappointing .197/.283/.318 slash line with seven home runs, 22 RBI, 27 runs scored and 11 steals across 227 plate appearances.
McLain is not in the lineup for Monday's contest versus the Brewers.
McLain will get a routine day off after picking up just one hit over his last five games. Gavin Lux will handle second base in the series opener.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Enters as pinch hitter
Rotowire
McLain entered Tuesday's game as a pinch hitter and went 0-for-1 with an RBI in a 7-2 win over the Royals.
McLain took a seat on the bench to open the game while Gavin Lux filled in at second base. McLain eventually pitch hit for Lux against a lefty, contributing a run-scoring groundout in the eighth inning, and then finished the game at the keystone. McLain's navigated an early-season slump but entered Tuesday's contest on a modest four-game hit streak (5-for-17).
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Reds' Matt McLain: Logs steal in loss
Rotowire
McLain went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Sunday's 11-8 loss to the Cubs.
McLain's hit safely in three straight games and stole his 11th base of the season, showing some value above a line of .184/.287/.319. His season-opening slump prompted manager Terry Francona to drop him from second in the batting order to the lower third, from where McLain's hit .238 over the last 12 games. A .217 expected batting average indicates McLain's experienced bad luck along the way.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Slumping again
Rotowire
McLain went 0-for-3 in Wednesday's 3-1 loss to the Pirates.
McLain is 0-for-12 with seven strikeouts over the last four games. On May 13, manager Terry Francona dropped him from second in the order to the lower third, and McLain looked like he was breaking out of a season-opening slump while going 6-for-18, but the pendulum has swung back in the subsequent four contests. Both his strikeout (32.8) and whiff (31.0) percentages have increased relative to his rookie 2023 season. The good news is that McLain makes solid contact when he does hit the ball, with an 11.8 barrel percentage and 47.3 percent hard-hit rate.
McLain went 2-for-3 with a solo home run, a double and an additional run scored during Thursday's 7-1 win over the White Sox.
McLain got off to a slow start to 2025, slashing .160/.282/.290 across his first 100 at-bats spanning 28 games, but the 25-year-old seems to be turning a corner. In nine games since, McLain is 8-for-32 (.250) with a pair of home runs, six runs scored and four stolen bases. He's up to six homers on the season.
McLain will start at second base and bat eighth in Tuesday's game versus the White Sox.
McLain had occupied either the second spot (28 times) or leadoff spot (three times) in his first 31 starts this season, but with a .596 OPS and 31.7 percent strikeout rate, he's earned a trip to the lower third of the Reds' batting order. Santiago Espinal has been elevated to the two hole for Cincinnati.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Breaks homer drought Saturday
Rotowire
McLain went 1-for-3 with a stolen base, two-run home run and two additional runs scored in Saturday's 13-9 win over the Astros.
After drawing a bases-loaded walk in the first inning, McLain pushed the Reds' lead to 11 runs in the third with a two-run homer off Logan VanWey. It was McLain's fifth home run of the season, but his first since April 18 against the Orioles. He also managed to extend his on-base streak to 11 games, and over that span he has gone 8-for-41 with six stolen bases, six runs scored, one home run and four RBI.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Swipes ninth bag
Rotowire
McLain went 1-for-5 with a stolen base in Thursday's 5-4 extra-innings loss to Atlanta.
Soon after McLain's return from the injured list in mid-April, his average plummeted below the Mendoza Line and has stayed there. However, he is making the most of the times he does get on base. Over the last 11 contests, McLain is batting .190 (8-for-42) with six walks and six stolen bases. He's up to nine steals over 30 games on the season, putting him on pace to eclipse the career-high 14 steals he delivered in 2023. McLain's most prolific season in the minors was 2022, when he swiped 27 bags across 103 games at Double-A Chattanooga.
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Reds' Matt McLain: Swipes bag Sunday
Rotowire
McLain went 1-for-3 with a walk and a steal in Sunday's loss to the Nationals.
McLain walked and stole second base for his sixth steal of the year but otherwise had a quiet day along with most of the lineup. He's yet to find any sort of rhythm offensively since returning from a brief IL stint in mid-April and currently sits in the bottom 10 of qualified hitters with a 31 percent strikeout rate.
