Matt McLain snaps out of slump and makes ABS history while filling in for Elly De La Cruz

What happened

Matt McLain has had a busy early June. Per FanGraphs, the Reds' infielder snapped a 1-for-29 slide on June 1 against the Royals — the same day he stepped into shortstop duties to cover for Elly De La Cruz, who strained his right hamstring while running out a single on May 31 and is out. What followed was a stretch that would look good on anyone's highlight reel: McLain homered in back-to-back games on June 6 and June 7 against the Cardinals, with the June 7 contest producing the second two-homer game of his career. Then, on Monday, he became the first player in major league history to win three ball-strike challenges in a single plate appearance, with the sequence resulting in a base on balls.

That last item deserves a moment. The challenge system — in which a batter or catcher can appeal a ball-strike call to the automated strike zone — is still relatively new to the major league stage, and the record books for it are thin by definition. McLain did not just use the system; he apparently exhausted its dramatic possibilities in one trip to the plate. Three successful challenges, one walk, one footnote in the annals of a rule that is still finding its footing. The Reds, one imagines, will take it.

Why it matters

The operational context here is straightforward: De La Cruz's hamstring strain left Cincinnati without one of its most dynamic players, and McLain has started seven of the Reds' games at shortstop since May 31, per FanGraphs. That is a meaningful ask of a player who, as FanGraphs notes, has been working his way back from a prolonged stretch of difficulty following a left shoulder injury sustained in March 2024.

The 1-for-29 stretch that preceded June 1 was, by FanGraphs' own accounting, the worst calendar month of McLain's major league career. A slump of that depth, layered on top of a shoulder injury that cost him significant time, is the kind of thing that can quietly reshape how a front office thinks about a player's trajectory. The recent stretch — the back-to-back home runs, the challenge-system novelty, the return to something resembling production — offers what FanGraphs describes as hope that McLain is finally on the upswing.

Whether that upswing holds is a separate question, and one the desk is not in the business of answering. What is observable is that McLain has been asked to do more at a position he does not typically own, at a moment when the team needed someone to step in, and he has responded with the most notable offensive stretch of his recent tenure.

Where the club stands

### Is any of this changing Cincinnati's standing?

Not yet. The Reds sit at 75-87 (.463), fifth in the NL Central, 28 games back in the division, and per the verified standings, eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race. Their Wild Card rank is 9th, 13.0 relative to the cut line. They enter Wednesday on a one-game losing streak.

That context does not diminish what McLain has done — individual performances retain their meaning regardless of the standings column — but it does frame the moment honestly. Cincinnati is playing out a schedule, developing players, and watching to see who can be part of whatever comes next. McLain's recent stretch is relevant to that conversation even if it does not move the needle on October.

The upcoming schedule offers a reasonable look at what the team faces. On Wednesday, June 10, the Reds are at Petco Park to face the San Diego Padres, with Brady Singer projected against Michael King. The club then returns home for a weekend series against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Great American Ball Park: Nick Lodolo is the probable for Friday, June 12 against Eduardo Rodriguez, and Rhett Lowder is lined up for Saturday, June 13 against Michael Soroka.

What we don't know yet

De La Cruz's hamstring strain is the central uncertainty hanging over this story. FanGraphs describes the Reds as hoping McLain's shortstop tenure will be "brief," which is the kind of phrasing that signals optimism without committing to a timeline. No return date for De La Cruz has been reported, and the nature of hamstring strains — which have a way of resisting the schedules people set for them — means the "brief" qualifier is doing considerable work in that sentence.

Under general league rules, a position player placed on the injured list is subject to a minimum 10-day stint, though a player can be transferred to the 60-day IL if the situation warrants. None of that has been reported specifically about De La Cruz in this context; it is simply the mechanical backdrop against which the Reds are managing their roster.

What is also unresolved is whether McLain's recent production represents a genuine turn or a hot week inside a longer struggle. FanGraphs frames it carefully — "hope that he's finally on the upswing" — and that framing is worth preserving. A two-homer game and a historic walk are real events. They are not, by themselves, a verdict.

What to watch

The most immediate question is De La Cruz's status and when, if at all, he rejoins the lineup. Until then, McLain's performance at shortstop — both offensively and defensively — will be one of the more closely watched subplots on a Cincinnati roster that has limited reasons to generate national attention at this stage of the season.

The challenge-system record is also worth a second look, not because it changes anything about the standings, but because it is the kind of procedural curiosity that tends to get forgotten until someone breaks it. McLain now owns it. Three successful challenges, one plate appearance, one walk. The system was designed to get calls right; on Monday, it got three of them right in a row for the same batter. That is either a testament to the technology, a commentary on the original umpiring, or simply a very strange Monday — possibly all three.

McLain's shoulder history and the depth of his recent slump mean the Reds have genuine reason to monitor how he holds up over a sustained stretch of shortstop starts. The position is physically demanding, and the team has already learned, at some cost, what happens when McLain's shoulder becomes a problem. None of that is cause for alarm based on what has been reported — it is simply the lens through which a careful observer watches the next few weeks.

Brady Singer takes the ball Wednesday in San Diego. The Reds are eliminated. Matt McLain is playing shortstop and, for the moment, hitting. In a lost season, that is not nothing.