Former UCLA Baseball Star Matt McLain Called Up By Cincinnati Reds
Another Bruin has reached the big leagues.
The Cincinnati Reds called up former UCLA baseball standout Matt McLain from Triple-A Louisville on Monday. McLain is taking the place of outfielder TJ Friedl, who was moved to the 10-day injured list with an oblique strain, while first baseman Joey Votto has been moved to the 60-day injured list.
McLain is just the sixth player for the 2021 MLB Draft class to make it to the majors, and he is the first played selected in the first round to do so.
According to MLB Pipeline, McLain ranks as the No. 5 prospect in Cincinnati's system and the No. 95 overall prospect in the league.
The Reds took McLain with the No. 17 overall pick two years ago, but that wasn't the first time he went in the first round. The Arizona Diamondbacks picked McLain at No. 25 overall back in 2018, but he decided to honor his commitment to UCLA instead.
McLain was an everyday starter in the outfield for the Bruins in 2019, helping UCLA win the Pac-12 regular season title and earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. As a freshman, though, McLain only hit .203 with four home runs and 30 RBI in 61 games, and he struck out 64 times compared to just 17 walks.
In his COVID-shortened sophomore season, McLain broke out with a .397 batting average and 1.043 OPS, adding three homers and 19 RBI across 13 appearances at shortstop. McLain strung together a full season at that level in 2021, hitting nine home runs with 36 RBI, 34 walks, 34 strikeouts, a .333 batting average and an 1.013 OPS in 47 games.
McLain spun that All-Pac-12 campaign into a successful run in the Reds' farm system. Across two games in Rookie Ball and 29 in High-A, McLain hit .283 with an .851 OPS in 2021.
The highly-rated prospect spent all of 2022 in Double-A, appearing in 103 games. Although his batting average dipped to .232, McLain still put up an .816 OPS with 17 home runs, 58 RBI and 27 stolen bases.
McLain was tearing up Triple-A through the first six weeks of the 2023 season, boasting a .348 batting average and an 1.184 OPS with 12 homers, 40 RBI and 10 stolen bases in just 38 outings.
While McLain is the first young Bruin to break into the majors this year, several of his former teammates did so late in 2022. In the span of one week in August, outfielder Garrett Mitchell, first baseman Michael Toglia and infielder Ryan Kreidler got called up by the Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers, respectively.
McLain is the 91st UCLA baseball alumnus ever to make the MLB, and the 28th to be coached by John Savage.
The Reds are currently 18-22, but they are only five games out of first place in the NL Central and two games out of the last Wild Card spot.
McLain will start at shortstop and hit out of the No. 2 hole for Cincinnati in Colorado on Monday. First pitch for the Reds and Rockies is scheduled for 6:40 p.m. at Coors Field.
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