Home Baseball All took a turn for the worse: Reds unexpectedly reveal severity of Matt McClain’s injury and fans will be bummed

All took a turn for the worse: Reds unexpectedly reveal severity of Matt McClain’s injury and fans will be bummed

Baseball — 03/28/2024

It sounds like Matt McLain’s 2024 season may now be in jeopardy.

Cincinnati Reds infielder Matt McLain

After undergoing shoulder surgery, Matt McLain, a second baseman with the Cincinnati Reds, will miss the beginning of the 2024 campaign. The Reds provided an update before to Opening Day after getting a second evaluation regarding the extent of McLain’s injury, but the precise timetable of his comeback is still unknown.

The Reds released a statement stating that McLain had successful surgery to treat cartilage damage and restore his left shoulder’s labrum. Even if this might not be the worst-case situation, the news is undoubtedly bad.

Undoubtedly, McLain’s injury update will have an impact on how the Reds start the 2024 season. There was a lot of hope for this year’s club. There was a tangible sense of excitement in Cincinnati from the national media to the Reds fan base. However, the start of the regular season is definitely hampered by this most recent injury news.

Reds unexpectedly reveal severity of Matt McClain’s injury and fans will be bummed

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McLain was supposed to start at second base for the Reds on Opening Day on Thursday. But when the infielder hurt his shoulder during team drills in the last days of spring training, everything went south.

McLain missed the last few Cactus League games due to an issue that team officials discovered on the initial MRI. The depth of the damage was evidently exposed on Monday during the orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache’s session.

With outfielder TJ Friedl and McLain off the Reds Opening Day roster, manager David Bell will have to make some choices. Who will play second base for the Reds on a daily basis? Who is going to be Cincinnati’s first baseman? Will the Reds search the trade and/or free agent market in an attempt to improve their squad without McLain?

Although Cincinnati boasts a deep infield, Noelvi Marte, who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs earlier this spring, will also miss the first 80 games of the 2024 campaign. Reds head of baseball operations Nick Krall stated the organization expects to get McLain back anytime this season. Reds supporters undoubtedly wish McLain a quick recovery.