The Cincinnati Reds are building a nice, young core. While the record overall is just 24-29, the team has several young players that are worthy of being excited about.
One such player is Matt McLain, the rookie infielder who was named the National League Player of the Week for the last week. The award was given out on Tuesday.
Per the release from Major League Baseball:
- The 23-year-old hit .484 (15-for-31) with three doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, nine runs scored, one stolen base, a .774 slugging percentage and a .543 on-base percentage in seven games played last week.
- The California native led the NL in hits, tied for first in runs scored, ranked second in hitting, third in on-base percentage, tied for third in total bases (24), tied for sixth in doubles, tied for seventh in RBI, and was ninth in slugging.
- The 17th overall selection in the 2021 MLB Draft hit safely in all seven games played last week, helping the Reds to a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field over the weekend and a 5-2 mark overall during the week.
- Went 9-for-15 across the three-game set at Wrigley, including a career-best four-hit performance on Sunday to close out his award-winning week. Homered in consecutive contests for his first Major League home runs on Tuesday and Wednesday against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.
- Since his Major League debut on May 15th, McLain leads the Reds in on-base percentage and OPS and is tied for the team lead in home runs, RBI and runs scored. In addition, ranks among the Major League leaders in runs (tied for third), hits (tied for fifth), on-base percentage (sixth), hitting (sixth) and doubles (tied for seventh) since his promotion. His 19 hits are the third-most ever by a Reds player through his first 12 games, trailing only Sam Crawford (22 hits, 1901) and Jay Bruce (21 hits, 2008).
The 23-year-old California native was a first-round pick of the Reds in 2021 out of UCLA. He's hitting .380 for the season in 50 at-bats.
The Reds are visiting Boston to take on the Red Sox on Tuesday. First pitch is 7:10 p.m. ET.
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