A couple of quiet roster moves at the outset of this week’s series against the Pittsburgh Pirates might have ramifications that ripple into next season for the Cincinnati Reds.
That is, assuming there is a season next season and MLB owners don’t make the worst business decision since Blockbuster refused to buy 3-year-old Netflix in 2000, and shut down the game over a money-grab obsession with a salary cap.
Until then, the Reds have reinstalled Matt McLain– once considered a part of their competitive foundation — at second base after a week at Louisville on a rehab assignment for a calf injury.
That follows an extended look at top infield prospect
Edwin Arroyo at that position, during a rocky, defensively sloppy, two-month big-league debut.
Over the final two months of a lost Reds season, those figure to be two of the players team officials will evaluate most intently after the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline as they look ahead to what team president Nick Krall said will be an effort next year to return to the playoffs.
“We’re gonna let (McLain) play. He needs to play second base. We obviously missed his defense,” said manager manager Terry Francona, who watched Arroyo struggle defensively almost nightly at second.
“We all know we want him to hit better, himself included, but we just don’t want him to try to get it all back in one game,” Francona added. “Just play the game, be scrappy, make all the plays, be a good baserunner. We need to see him play.”
That’s the thing. McLain was one of six major Reds rookies to debut in 2023 and was their best player for the three months he was on the field that season. But since a shoulder injury in spring training cost him all of 2024, he hasn’t come close to showing that kind of offensive production – keeping his roster spot largely because of his value as a consistent, plus defender. He even handled center field adeptly as a brief injury fill-in this season.
“When we sent him out to get his at-bats (on the weeklong rehab assignment), we said, ‘Attack it; don’t just go down and rehab,’ “ Francona said. “By all accounts, he was ultra aggressive in everything he did. I think that will help.”
If McLain becomes the hitter the Reds thought they had in 2023, that goes a long way toward their competitive plans for 2027 from a much-needed offensive standpoint.
The Arroyo experiment also underscored the value of McLain’s 3-plus-year relationship with shortstop Elly De La Cruz – the pairing with Arroyo leading to communication issues, awkward double-play exchanges and near-collisions on balls up the middle (with contact on a few plays).
“For young kids, the game’s going fast sometimes,” Francona said, adding that the experience should make Arroyo better and using former All-Star outfielder Adam Jones as an example.
“We faced (Jones) when he was in Seattle, and I remember (with the Red Sox) – I don’t want to say we knocked the bat out of his hands, but we beat him up,” the manager said. “Then I looked up about a year or two later, and it’s like, ‘Gol-ly, that’s the same guy’? It happens.”
The Reds’ middle infield was much tighter with McLain alongside De La Cruz.
“We’ve been doing it together for a long time, and I want to do it with him for a lot longer,” McLain said. “We’ve had a lot of reps together, and I think that’s really important.”
Arroyo, who at one point was considered the top shortstop in the Reds’ organization, will play second every day at Triple-A Louisville, Francona said.
“When a kid comes back, a lot of times they look stronger, they look like they belong, they know where they’re going,” Francona said. “So that will be the hope (with Arroyo).”
And that also would go a long way toward planning for next year. And Arroyo has the chance to play himself into a finish at the big-league level this year.
“We told him that he showed the ability to make a really flashy play,” Francona said. “But we said, ‘On a good team — which we aspire to be — you hit it to the middle of the field, you’re out.’ Just wanted to give him some things to think about.
“We want to make whatever hiccups he had here worth (it), to let it help him learn from it. Because we want him to be a really good player.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Matt McLain, Edwin Arroyo roster moves can impact 2027 Reds season
