Matt McLain Fantasy Stats

Across 268 plate appearances in 2026, Cincinnati Reds infielder Matt McLain is hitting .208/.315/.364 with eight home runs, 25 RBI, 31 runs scored, and 11 stolen bases. While the 26-year-old's season-long numbers don't leap off the page, he's begun to heat up in June. Across 46 plate appearances this month, McLain is hitting .270/.413/.595 with three home runs, five RBI, nine runs scored, and four stolen bases. With his 10.1% barrel rate and his homer-friendly home park in Cincinnati, McLain has significant power upside. He's also raised his walk rate to 12.3% while lowering his strikeout rate 23.9% so far this season, which should maximize his opportunities to get on base and use his speed. McLain's 20.4-degree launch angle limits his batting average upside, but he profiles as a potentially high-end power/speed threat for fantasy managers to target on the waiver wire.

Cincinnati Reds infielder Matt McLain is locked in at the plate right now. In the team's 5-3 loss on the road at Busch Stadium on Sunday to the division-rival St. Louis Cardinals, he went 2-for-4 at the plate with two solo home runs and two strikeouts to boost his season average to .206 and his OPS to .671. It was the 26-year-old's second career multi-homer game, and he has now cleared the fences three times in the last two games. McLain is still barely hitting over the Mendoza Line on the season, but he could be starting to turn the corner in June, going 5-for-15 (.333) in a small sample size of five games with three homers, a double, five RBI, and five runs scored in 17 plate appearances so far this month. Overall, the former 25th selection in 2018 out of UCLA has eight home runs, 25 RBI, 27 runs scored, and seven stolen bases across his 209 at-bats in 2026 as Cincy's starting second baseman. Keep in mind that McLain hit .290 (106-for-365) with 16 homers and 14 steals in 89 games in 2023 in his rookie season, and he also tore the cover off the baseball back in spring training.

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain has been one of the bigger disappointments of the first two months, but he might be worth grabbing right now while he's slumping. The 26-year-old is hitting just .196 with five homers, 20 RBI, 22 runs, and seven steals across 56 games. He's been especially ice cold lately (1-for-26 in his last eight games), and he was out of the lineup on Sunday. Still, he showed some signs of life with a three-homer stretch in May, and he came in as a pinch-runner and played shortstop after Elly De La Cruz (hamstring) was removed from Sunday's game against the Braves. McLain is still viewed as the primary second baseman long-term and has the tools for a legit 15-20 HR, 15+ SB season once he gets going. Deeper-league managers should consider stashing him on the waiver wire (rostered in 38% of Yahoo leagues) while the price is this low. Update: McLain should see an uptick in at-bats now that De La Cruz was placed on the 10-day Injured List Monday.

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain went 13-for-41 (.317) with three home runs, three doubles, 10 RBI, seven runs scored, and two stolen bases in 12 games from May 6 to May 18. In four games since then, though, he has gone hitless in 19 plate appearances with an RBI, no walks, and seven strikeouts. In 21 games in May, McLain is batting .178 (13-for-73) with three homers, three doubles, 11 RBI, seven runs, two steals, six walks, and 17 strikeouts across 80 plate appearances. On the season, the 26-year-old former 17th overall pick in 2021 out of UCLA is hitting under .200 with a .296 on-base percentage, .326 slugging percentage, and .622 OPS in 187 at-bats in his third season in the big leagues. McLain had an impressive 31 home runs, 100 RBI, and 32 steals in 236 games in his first two seasons in the majors (he missed 2024 due to injury), making him a nice sleeper candidate in fantasy going into this year. He has stayed healthy so far, but the results have been disappointing. If McLain continues to struggle, he could start to lose playing time as we get into the summer months.

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain will hit the bench for Saturday's game against the visiting Los Angeles Angels at Great American Ballpark, according to MLB.com. Sal Stewart will make the start at the keystone and will hit cleanup for the Reds versus Angels rookie right-hander George Klassen. Spencer Steer is hitting second for Cincy. McLain hit seven home runs in 18 spring training games, but as soon as the games started to count, he's cooled off at the plate. The 26-year-old former first-rounder out of UCLA has gone 12-for-55 (.218) so far with no homers, three RBI, six runs scored, two stolen bases, seven walks, and 15 strikeouts in 64 plate appearances and 14 games played. McLain has plenty of time to turn things around offensively, but fantasy managers might want to keep him benched until he turns it around. Stewart, 22, is one of the brightest young position-player prospects in the big leagues with both power and speed. He's off to a great start, slashing .340/.458/.681 with four homers, nine RBI, eight runs, and three steals in 47 at-bats for the Reds.

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain smacked a pair of doubles in a 2-for-5 effort in Tuesday's 6-3 extra-innings win over the Marlins, driving in two runs, scoring once, and stealing a base. Perhaps the former first-rounder is rounding into form with three multi-hit efforts in his last five games, raising his batting average from .190 to .238 on the season. The 28-year-old scorched the ball this spring, batting .509 with seven home runs, which inflated his ADP in fantasy drafts, so managers who invested in a bounce-back campaign should be encouraged by his recent play. The right-handed hitter will go up against the Marlins' Eury Perez on Wednesday, and although he's seen Perez only twice, McLain does have a home run off of him.

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain has struggled early in the 2026 season, slashing .190 AVG, .370 OBP, and .238 SLG with four hits in six games. McLain broke out in his 2023 rookie year but has faced challenges since missing the entire 2024 season with a shoulder injury. Despite the slow start, his expected slugging percentage sits at .469, which suggests better results could follow. The 26-year-old may be dealing with poor early luck, and if his underlying metrics hold, McLain could begin to trend back toward his previous form in the coming weeks.

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain (illness) is back at second base and is batting second in the team's exhibition game on Tuesday against the Milwaukee Brewers, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer. McLain caught a bug going around the team's clubhouse and was held out of Monday's exhibition game. The 26-year-old former 17th overall pick in 2021 out of UCLA has major bounce-back potential for fantasy managers in 2026 near the top of a powerful Reds lineup. McLain turned heads as a rookie in 2023 with a .290/.357/.507 slash line with 16 homers, 50 RBI, and 14 stolen bases, but he missed all of 2024 due to injuries and returned as a disappointment last year. He hit .220/.300/.343 in 2025 with 15 homers, 50 RBI, and 18 steals in 147 games played. McLain has mashed this spring, going 27-for-51 (.529) with seven homers and 16 RBI in 17 Cactus League games. He's an excellent choice as a starting second baseman in fantasy after some of the high-end names at the position come off the board.

Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain (illness) will not play in the team's exhibition game on Monday night against the Milwaukee Brewers because he caught a bug that has been going around the Reds' clubhouse, according to Gordon Wittenmyer of The Cincinnati Enquirer. McLain is doing pre-game work, though, and he's expected to play in Tuesday's final exhibition game before Opening Day on Thursday. The 26-year-old former first-rounder out of UCLA is a sleeper second baseman in fantasy baseball this year who is projected to hit second in a hitter-friendly home environment in Cincy. McLain burst onto the scene in 2023 in his rookie season and hit .290 with 16 home runs, 50 RBI, and 14 stolen bases in 89 games. He didn't play at all in 2024 due to injury before disappointing with a .220/.300/.343 slash line, 15 homers, 50 RBI, and 18 steals in 147 games in 2025. McLain has torn the cover off the baseball in spring training, going 27-for-51 (.529) with seven home runs, 16 RBI, 18 runs scored, and two steals in 17 Cactus League games played.

After missing the entire 2024 season with a shoulder injury, Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain managed to log 577 plate appearances in 2025. However, the 26-year-old had his struggles at the plate, slashing .220/.300/.343 with 15 home runs, 50 RBI, 73 runs scored, and 18 stolen bases. McLain struck out in 28.9% of his plate appearances while also recording a middling 7.7% barrel rate. Now nearly two years removed from his shoulder troubles, McLain is starting to show signs of a breakout. He has dominated Cactus League action to a .529/.571/1.020 slash line with seven home runs across 56 plate appearances. If McLain can get back to the 10.8% barrel rate he posted as a rookie in 2023, he could emerge as a legitimately high-end power/speed threat relative to his peers at second base. McLain's impressive spring should have him rising up draft boards, and he has the type of high-upside profile that could be worth gambling on for fantasy managers.