Matt McLain makes ABS challenge history while filling in for Elly De La Cruz

Matt McLain has had a busy first week and a half of June — the kind of busy that makes you forget, briefly, how difficult the preceding stretch actually was.

What happened

Per FanGraphs, McLain broke out of a 1-for-29 stretch on June 1 against the Royals, the same day he began filling in at shortstop for Elly De La Cruz, who strained his right hamstring on May 31 while running out a single. From there, McLain homered in back-to-back games on June 6 and June 7 against the Cardinals, with the June 7 contest marking the second two-homer game of his career. Then, per FanGraphs, McLain became the first player to win three challenge reviews in a single plate appearance — a sequence that ended in a base on balls.

That last item deserves a moment of appreciation. The challenge system was introduced to give hitters and pitchers a mechanism to contest borderline calls, and the general expectation was that one challenge per plate appearance would cover most situations. Three in a single trip to the plate is the kind of outcome the architects of the system presumably did not have circled on their planning documents. McLain did not just use the mechanism; he stress-tested it.

Why it matters

The FanGraphs report frames McLain's recent stretch as a source of hope following what it describes as a prolonged struggle since he tore up his left shoulder in March 2024. May, per the report, was the worst calendar month of his major league career. The 1-for-29 run that closed that month was the kind of sequence that tends to generate quiet conversations in front offices and loud ones on sports radio.

The De La Cruz situation adds a layer of operational weight to McLain's moment. With De La Cruz out after straining his right hamstring on May 31, the Reds needed McLain not just to exist on the roster but to hold down a position. Per FanGraphs, he has started seven of the Reds' games at shortstop since De La Cruz went down — a role that asks him to contribute both offensively and defensively at a premium position while working his way back from what had been a difficult stretch at the plate.

The timing is worth noting: McLain's offensive uptick arrived on the same day the team's need for him deepened. Whether that convergence reflects something real about his trajectory or simply the calendar being kind for a week is, as yet, unknown.

The FanGraphs report also notes that McLain is 26 years old, which places this stretch in a particular developmental context. A player that age, coming back from a significant shoulder injury and navigating a prolonged offensive struggle, is at exactly the kind of crossroads where a week like this one carries weight beyond the box score — not as proof of anything, but as evidence worth filing away.

Where the club stands

Cincinnati is 75-87 (.463), fifth in the NL Central, and 28 games back in the division. Their Wild Card standing ranks ninth, 13.0 relative to the cut line, and per the available data they are eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race. They carry a one-game losing streak into Wednesday's scheduled game at Petco Park against the San Diego Padres, where Brady Singer is the probable starter against Michael King.

After that road trip, the Reds return home to face the Arizona Diamondbacks at Great American Ball Park. Nick Lodolo is the probable starter for Friday's game against Eduardo Rodriguez, and Rhett Lowder is lined up for Saturday against Michael Soroka.

For a team in Cincinnati's position in the standings, the schedule is less a playoff chase and more a series of auditions. McLain's recent games — the back-to-back homers, the shortstop starts, the challenge-review novelty — are the kind of material that gets reviewed in offseason planning meetings. The Reds are playing out the schedule, which means individual performances carry a different kind of weight: less about winning a pennant, more about establishing what the roster looks like going forward.

Those are not meaningless games. They are just meaningful in a different direction.

What we don't know yet

The FanGraphs report notes that McLain has started seven of the Reds' games at shortstop since De La Cruz went down, but the team "hopes" the absence will be brief. No timetable for De La Cruz's return appears in the report, and the Reds' infield picture remains genuinely unsettled as a result.

It is also worth preserving the uncertainty around McLain himself. The report describes his recent stretch as offering "some hope" that he is on the upswing — a carefully hedged phrase. A week of good baseball after a prolonged struggle is encouraging; it is not, by itself, a resolution. The shoulder injury that cost him significant time beginning in March 2024 is part of the context here, and the FanGraphs framing is appropriately cautious about what the recent games mean in the longer arc.

The challenge-review record, for its part, raises a question the report does not answer: what happens on the fourth attempt? The system, apparently, was not designed with that scenario in mind. McLain found the edge of the rulebook and walked — literally.

What to watch

### Is De La Cruz's return timeline any clearer?

Not per the available reporting. The Reds have characterized the absence as something they hope will be brief, but no specific return window has been reported. Until De La Cruz is back, McLain's role at shortstop continues, which means his offensive performance carries direct positional consequences for the lineup.

The upcoming series against Arizona at Great American Ball Park — with Lodolo and Lowder lined up for Friday and Saturday — will offer another look at whether McLain's June uptick holds against a different opponent in a home environment. For a team playing out the string in the standings, the individual storylines are often the most meaningful thing left to follow, and McLain's is one of the more layered ones on the roster: a player working back from a significant injury, filling in at a premium position for a teammate who is also hurt, and doing so while the calendar has already rendered the standings academic.

That is a lot of context for one infielder to carry. He appears, at least for the moment, to be carrying it.