DENVER – Matt McLain bet on himself after the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft and now the Cincinnati Reds are betting on him.
The Reds took McLain, a shortstop out of UCLA, with the No. 17 overall selection. He was a first-round pick in the 2018 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks (No. 25 overall) but he did not sign. He spurned a $2.6 million signing bonus, according to the Los Angeles Times.
McLain, a 5-foot-11, 170-pound right-handed hitter, waited three years for his next opportunity in the draft and he improved his draft position. He was rated as the 10th-best prospect in the draft class by Baseball America and the 12th-best by MLB.com.
"I’ve for sure become a better person and a better player on the field," McLain said. "I think I’ve for sure progressed in every area that I possibly could."
In 47 games at UCLA this year, missing around three weeks with a broken thumb, McLain had a .333 batting average and .434 on-base percentage. He had nine homers, 14 doubles, 36 RBI and 47 runs, leading his school to a 37-20 record.
Baseball America wrote in its scouting report that the main question about the 21-year-old McLain is how much power he will show at the plate. He played center field as a freshman, so he does have some defensive versatility.
"First and foremost, I’m a winner and I’m a competitor above everything else," McLain said. "I like to hit. I like to play defense. I like to run. I think I can do everything on the field. Not in a cocky way, but I just love baseball and I love playing the game every single day, going out there and giving it my all. That’s what I do and that’s what I’m going to do every single day from here on out."
It was the first time the Reds took a Pac-12 player with a first-round pick since Alex Blandino in 2014. The Reds selected a college infielder with their first pick in the draft in 2016 (Nick Senzel) and 2018 (Jonathan India).
McLain was the highest-picked UCLA position player since Chase Utley (No. 15 overall) in 2000.
He comes from a baseball family. One of his younger brothers plays at Arizona State and another is a UCLA commit.
"I just want to go play," he said. "I want to get the chance to go out there and play and make a name for myself. Just have fun because I love playing baseball."
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