McLain homers from No. 2 spot, aims to recapture 2023 form 

This story was excerpted from Mark Sheldon’s Reds Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. – One of Reds manager Terry Francona's Spring Training objectives was to identify who could bat second in his lineup behind leadoff hitter TJ Friedl and ahead of Elly De La Cruz in the third spot. Francona very well could end up with the guy who batted second to open last season.

That would be second baseman Matt McLain. While Cactus League lineups rarely matter in the big picture, it's telling where Francona has put the 26-year-old McLain. He has been in the two-hole for all four games he's played this spring, including on Saturday vs. the Brewers.

"I don’t want to force it but if he does it the way he can, it would be ideal," Francona said of McLain.

Having McLain hit second would give Francona a right-handed bat that breaks up the lefty-hitting Friedl and switch-hitting De La Cruz.

Preferring to focus on swings and quality of contact, Francona doesn't pay much attention to spring batting averages but McLain is batting .500 (6-for-12) with a 1.371 OPS this spring. The contact has been very solid, as well.

In McLain's first game, on Feb. 22 vs. the Mariners, he drove a ball the opposite way for a two-run double to right field.

On Saturday in his first at-bat, McLain was in a 0-2 count and stayed alive to slug a 2-2 sinker from pitcher Coleman Crow for a home run to right-center field. For his second at-bat in the fourth inning, McLain scorched a single into left field and scored.

McLain understands the importance of producing from the second spot as the Reds try to boost their offense from 2025. This year, he would be setting the table for De La Cruz, followed by free agent acquisition Eugenio Suárez in the cleanup spot.

“For sure. I’ve got to go out there and I’ve got to earn it," McLain said. "But at the end of the day, wherever I hit, I’ll hit. I’m going to do whatever the team needs me to do in that scenario, whether it’s get on, move a guy over, hit a pop-up for a sac fly, get a base hit. It’s really the same.”

McLain, who had a breakout rookie season in 2023 before missing all of '24 recovering from left shoulder surgery, was unable to find an offensive groove for most of '25. His struggles eventually led Francona to move him down into the eighth or ninth spots for much of the latter portion of the season.

In 147 games overall, McLain batted .220 with a .643 OPS, 15 home runs and 50 RBIs while striking out 167 times. Although he played solid defense and was one of the team's best baserunners, there were calls from some fans that McLain should be sent back to the Minors.

That was never under consideration, Francona noted.

“We weren’t going to send him down, I can tell you that," he said. "I just had so much confidence in him. I probably should have moved him down the order earlier but that’s how much confidence I had in the kid.”

McLain, who said he wasn't worried about a demotion, still appreciated the faith.

“I noticed it. I think everyone did," McLain said. "It’s a good feeling to have that confidence, but I’ve got to play the way I know how to play.”

During his rookie '23 season, McLain batted .290 with an .864 OPS, 16 homers and 50 RBIs in 89 games. Not only was he unable to build on that the following year because of the shoulder injury, he lost an entire season of development and at-bats.

"I don’t know that you want to tell a guy that before the season they're going to struggle," Francona said. "Because they might not. He’s not the first guy this has happened to.”

McLain never felt like he made accommodations for his shoulder when making swings last season, but watched video of his 2023 at-bats and compared them to 2025. There were small differences in his swing and approach, but nothing to him stood out as major.

“A lot of people told me going into it with the injury, ‘Hey, be patient with yourself. A lot of it is really almost a two-year thing.’ And I was pretty stubborn with it," McLain said. "I was like, ‘No.’ Obviously I learned [from] missing that time that the most important thing was the competitiveness and at-bats that I missed. It’s not necessarily the shoulder surgery itself. It feels great.”