Matt

McLain

Santiago Espinal has definitely left the door wide, wide open for McLain to reclaim the second spot in the order. Alas, McLain is hitting worse now than when he was dropped in the order two weeks ago. He’s 6-for-41 with no homers and a 13/0 K/BB in his last 12 games, dropping his OPS from .645 to .573.

He’s hit eighth fourth times, ninth twice and seventh once since Terry Francona’s poorly timed switch. McLain, who already had a .360 OBP in May before being dropped from second in the order, has hit .286/.318/.524 since swapping spots with Santiago Espinal. Espinal is at .208/.208/.208 in his six games since moving up to second.

Espinal is hitting .125 (2-for-16) in four games since being moved to the second spot in Cincinnati’s lineup earlier this week. Amazingly, he hasn’t struck out or waked during that span. The 30-year-old veteran has had a nice year overall, but he’s not the prototypical modern-era top-of-the-order prototype. It would be surprising if the Reds don’t give Matt McLain another look in the near future, especially if Espinal isn’t producing.

McLain was dropped in the Reds lineup earlier this week, even though his OBP was already up this month. He’s batting .220/.371/.380 with two homers and five steals in 14 games during May. His replacement in the second spot in the order, Santiago Espinal, is hitting .226/.281/.264 during the same span.

It’s not totally unwarranted, but this is odd timing, given that McLain has a .360 OBP this month after coming in at .266 in April. He is still obviously struggling to hit for average, though. That it’s Santiago Espinal replacing in the second spot tonight seems like a big downgrade, but it’s surely temporary.

McLain is batting just .168, but he’s up to five homers and 10 steals in 32 games. He came into the night 11-for-76 with no extra-base hits in his previous 19 games.

McLain has 17 strikeouts and four hits in his last nine games, and his average is down to .154. His power is all of the way back after shoulder surgery, and that’s more important for the long run than his early strikeout troubles. Still, it’d be nice to see him put some more balls into play.

McLain snapped an 0-for-21 hitless streak with a seventh-inning single and immediately swiped second base for his fourth theft of the season. The 25-year-old speedster has gotten off to an ice-cold start this season, hitting .162 (12-for-74) with four homers and four steals through 20 games. We’re anticipating he’ll turn things around soon simply because he’s way too talented to continue struggling for much longer.

It appears to be a routine off day for McLain, who is hitting just .119 (5-for-42) with one homer and two steals in 11 games since returning from the injured list back on April 15. It’ll be Gavin Lux at second base during Sunday’s series finale against the Rockies.

McLain’s fourth homer in 12 games this year traveled 414 feet to center. It was a three-true outcomes night for the second baseman, just as many have been this season; with one of everything tonight, he’s homered, struck out (13 times) or walked (seven times) in more than half of his 47 plate appearances.