Matt

McLain

Stewart will get an opportunity in the heart of Cincinnati’s lineup to face Dodgers co-ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto after coming off the bench during the late stages of Tuesday’s series opener. The 21-year-old top prospect adds some serious thunder to the middle of the order in a win-or-go-home spot for the Reds after homering five times in 18 regular-season contests after being called up in early September. Here’s the full lineup: TJ Friedl (CF), Spencer Steer (LF), Gavin Lux (DH), Austin Hays (RF), Stewart (1B), Elly De La Cruz (SS), Tyler Stephenson (C), Ke’Bryan Hayes (3B) and Matt McLain (2B).

Hays missed seven consecutive games to close out the regular season due to back spasms. The 30-year-old corner outfielder is back in left field and batting cleanup against lefty Blake Snell on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. Here’s the full lineup: TJ Friedl (CF), Noelvi Marte (RF), Miguel Andujar (DH), Hays (LF), Spencer Steer (1B), Elly De La Cruz (SS), Tyler Stephenson (C), Ke’Bryan Hayes (3B) and Matt McLain (2B).

McLain’s up-and-down September ends on a down, as he went 2-for-19 with nine strikeouts in his final six games to finish the season at .220/.300/.343. He’s been an everyday player of late, but the Reds could consider alternatives in the Wild Card series. The problem is that they just don’t much like Gavin Lux’s defense at second, narrowing their options.

He also swiped his 17th base. After a little surge at the end of August and the first week of September, McLain came into tonight 2-for-20 with 10 strikeouts in his previous seven games. Playing time might again become a question for him, but it hasn’t been an issue of late, mostly because of how banged up Spencer Steer has been.

McLain has returned to an everyday role in the Reds’ lineup in recent weeks, but he’ll get a breather in this one. Gavin Lux will cover second base in his place with TJ Friedl shifting to the designated hitter slot in the lineup and Will Benson drawing a start in center field.

McLain continued his recent success at the plate, taking Jonah Tong deep for a solo homer in the third inning for his third home run in his last seven games. He also drew a pair of walks to reach in all three plate appearances. The 26-year-old second baseman is hitting .230/.312/.358 with 14 homers, 67 runs scored, 46 RBI, and 16 steals across 509 plate appearances.

Even though they’re facing a lefty, the Reds still found no room for Stewart. He’s been out of the lineup for both games since Spencer Steer returned to third base. Matt McLain’s turnaround has complicated the situation, since the Reds had to be thinking about using Stewart at second or Gavin Lux at second and Stewart at DH before McLain went 7-for-17 with two homers and two doubles in his last five games.

McLain has hit in six straight games, though this is his first multihit game since Aug. 7. Still, he might have turned the corner a little bit with homers Saturday and Sunday. He definitely needs the little surge here with Sal Stewart up as a candidate to see time at second base.

In something of a surprise, Stewart’s debut came as a first baseman at the expense of Spencer Steer. He had played that position just twice in the minors, compared to 90 games at third and 17 at second. Stewart singled in his first at-bat and then struck out and grounded out before Steer replaced him for defense. A couple of other candidates to lose playing time to Stewart, Ke’Bryan Hayes (3-for-4, 2 RBI) and Matt McLain (1-for-3, BB) both had nice games today, so we’ll be curious to see who Stewart starts for tomorrow, assuming that he starts at all.

The 21-year-old slugger was a first-round selection (32nd overall) by the Reds from the 2022 draft class. Stewart has had a terrific season in the minor leagues, slashing .309/.383/.524 with 20 homers, 80 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 494 plate appearances between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville. He can play first base, second base and third base and may move around the diamond to give the Reds additional flexibility. It’s unlikely that he’s coming up to ride the bench though, so expect him to see regular action over the month of September, which makes him an intriguing addition in deeper mixed leagues. With Elly de la Cruz a star and Ke’Bryan Hayes’ contract giving him plenty of run at third base, expect Stewart to cut into Matt McLain’s playing time at second base.