Matt McLain has zero hits in 14 trips to the plate in Cactus League action this spring, as the former 1st round pick of the Cincinnati Reds dealt with oblique soreness throughout much of camp. Yes, it’s a similar injury to the one that derailed his otherwise electric rookie campaign in 2023, and that’s something that’s hard to simply dismiss - especially given the nagging injuries we’ve seen to so many other of his peers.
It wasn’t the oblique that made him a surprise late scratch over the weekend against the San Francisco Giants, though. That was due to something he felt in his shoulder, and that ‘something’ is something that popped up in his recent MRI, as The Enquirer’s Charlie Goldsmith relayed on Tuesday afternoon.