Matt McLain - Fast Mover?

[RustyJ]

McLain is showing more power and speed than India at this point. India never ops'd .800 in the minors, and McLain is at .939 and rising. McLain also is 16 for 18 in SB in 54 games. McLain could end up as a similar player in the bigs to India, but I think he has a little more upside with the power/speed combo. The strike outs are a little high now which you can live with when the slg% in near .700.

I’m glad McLain’s doing well, but I don’t think there’s much of any insight to be gained from India’s crappy, injury riddled minor league career.

[camisadelgolf]

Longenhagen of fangraphs responding to a question in the chat:

Have you seen anything different from Matt McLain to explain the power surge, or is he just on a heater?

Nothing new about the swing, nothing obviously different about his physicality. I'm inclined to believe it's just a weird stretch. His line is very strange for a guy who's been a contact-over-power type his whole life.

[RedTeamGo!]

Longenhagen of fangraphs responding to a question in the chat:

One thing I’ve learned over the years is prospect “experts” refuse to admit when they are wrong. My favorite was after Todd Frazier had like 10 years of success at MLB level, Law was called out by Frazier on Twitter and Law STILL refused to admit he was wrong.

[Bourgeois Zee]

One thing I’ve learned over the years is prospect “experts” refuse to admit when they are wrong. My favorite was after Todd Frazier had like 10 years of success at MLB level, Law was called out by Frazier on Twitter and Law STILL refused to admit he was wrong.

Joey Votto's slow bat agrees.

So does Nick Senzel's average speed.

[Benihana]

One thing I never realized until just now is that Matt McLain played more games in one season (his freshman season) at CF than he did at SS (or 2B).

So it seems to me that CF should not be an issue for him at all if Elly stays in the infield. He can't be any worse than Nick Senzel overall. At least, I certainly hope not.

[JCM11]

McLain is probably a guy who could play every position besides catcher. I'd prefer the Reds pick one and let him excel there rather than treating him like a utility guy. My guess is in the bigs he ends up at second base or LF.

[Ron Madden]

Jesse Borek
@JesseABorek

October 19th, 2022

McLain leads talented group of Reds in AFL

https://www.mlb.com/reds/news/reds-a...eague-coverage

[Boston Red]

Can anyone in AA throw strikes? A .232 batting average with a .363 OBP seems a bit nuts.

[RedTeamGo!]

Can anyone in AA throw strikes? A .232 batting average with a .363 OBP seems a bit nuts.

This is yet another example why I do not get upset at Ely De La Cruz crushing the ball with a lower walk rate at A/AA ball. He is facing a bunch of pitchers that dont have good command.

[Kc61]

This is yet another example why I do not get upset at Ely De La Cruz crushing the ball with a lower walk rate at A/AA ball. He is facing a bunch of pitchers that dont have good command.

But wouldn’t that lack of command make Elly’s high K rate seem worse?

[RedTeamGo!]

But wouldn’t that lack of command make Elly’s high K rate seem worse?

Nope, because he is crushing the ball. I strongly believe that if EDLC wanted to have a .400+ OBP at A/AA he could, but he is choosing not to. He is choosing to swing away.

I know how crazy that sounds. He is taking a you do not walk your off the island approach to the minor leagues.

[Kc61]

Nope, because he is crushing the ball. I strongly believe that if EDLC wanted to have a .400+ OBP at A/AA he could, but he is choosing not to. He is choosing to swing away.

I know how crazy that sounds. He is taking a you do not walk your off the island approach to the minor leagues.

So presumably you think EDLC will simply shift to a better K/BB rate as the pitching gets better. If it gets harder to dominate the pitching, he’ll care more about Ks and BBs. We’ll find out.

[RedTeamGo!]

So presumably you think EDLC will simply shift to a better K/BB rate as the pitching gets better. If it gets harder to dominate the pitching, he’ll care more about Ks and BBs. We’ll find out.

Correct

[Tony Cloninger]

One thing I never realized until just now is that Matt McLain played more games in one season (his freshman season) at CF than he did at SS (or 2B).

So it seems to me that CF should not be an issue for him at all if Elly stays in the infield. He can't be any worse than Nick Senzel overall. At least, I certainly hope not.

The sooner they can get this sorted out and have them comfortable at a position the better. I know they want a bunch of multiple position players but not everyone can do that. It failed miserably with Senzel. Let these guys settle on a position and then comfortable hitting.

[Puffy]

The sooner they can get this sorted out and have them comfortable at a position the better. I know they want a bunch of multiple position players but not everyone can do that. It failed miserably with Senzel. Let these guys settle on a position and then comfortable hitting.

It failed miserably only because Senzel forgot how to hit a baseball with any force. He actually played an average to above average CF from almost day 1. But his position had nothing to do with that, IMO

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It failed miserably only because Senzel forgot how to hit a baseball with any force. He actually played an average to above average CF from almost day 1. But his position had nothing to do with his lack of hitting, IMO