Reds Notes: McLain, Lux, Candelario, Ashcraft

Matt McLain looked like a budding star following a 2023 campaign where he debuted for the Reds and slashed an incredible .290/.357/.507 in 89 games en route to a fifth place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting that year. Impressive as McLain was, however, his rising star came crashing down when he suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery last March. He missed the entire 2024 campaign rehabbing but seemed poised to re-enter the club’s middle infield mix as the starting second baseman next to star shortstop Elly De La Cruz for 2025.

That was before the Reds landed Gavin Lux in a trade with the Dodgers, however. Lux has played second base for the overwhelming majority of his big league career outside of the rare cameo in the outfield and a few ill-fated attempts to try him at shortstop. As noted by Gordon Wittenmyer of the Cincinnati Enquirer, club president Nick Krall has indicated that he expects Lux to play second base, left field, and DH for the Reds this year while also getting looks during Spring Training at third base and even shortstop as they look to sort out their mix of position players.

It’s a complicated puzzle the Reds will need to sort out this spring. De La Cruz is surely entrenched at shortstop, while Wittenmyer notes that Krall left the door open for veteran Jeimer Candelario to get the first crack at third base this year even after he struggled defensively at the position during an injury-marred 2024 campaign. If Candelario is at third base, that would open up first base for either Spencer Steer or Christian Encarnacion-Strand. Should Lux end up at second base, that would leave McLain without a spot on the infield, but it’s worth noting that the youngster took reps in center field during the Arizona Fall League this year and that C. Trent Rosencrans of The Athletic recently suggested that McLain could get a look in the outfield himself during Spring Training.

That complex infield picture seems likely to have a domino effect on the club’s outfield this year. Jake Fraley, Austin Hays, and TJ Friedl appear to be the three full-time outfielders locked into the Reds’ roster, but Fraley has long been a platoon player for Cincinnati while both Hays and Friedl are coming off difficult and injury-marred 2024 campaigns. That could open the door for the club’s excess infielders to take reps on the grass, with McLain standing out as an option in center field alongside Friedl while Steer and Lux could both be candidates to…