Cincinnati Reds 2B Matt McLain sidelined 5-7 days because of oblique 'aggravation'
GOODYEAR, Ariz. –– Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain, who missed the final month of the 2023 season with an oblique injury, will “back down” for the next five-to-seven days after an "aggravation" of the oblique near the spot of last season's injury, manager David Bell said Tuesday.
Bell said an MRI was clean, showing only that the previous injury had healed.
McLain is expected to miss the first few games of the Cactus League schedule but "shouldn't" be in danger of missing Opening Day, Bell said.
"These next five days will be really important," Bell said. "There's still time for Opening Day, for sure."
McLain felt irritation during a recent day he took a lot of batting practice, the manager said.
“At first, we thought it was soreness from him taking a lot of swings,” Bell said. “It lingered a little bit.”
The Reds have built up as much infield depth as anyone in baseball because of how that depth can be tested over the season. McLain, Noelvi Marte and Jonathan India are all bouncing back from minor injuries.
“All of those guys are going to be fine, but things happen,” Bell said. It’s a physical game, and we haven’t even started games yet. All in all, it’s a healthy camp. "It’s minor stuff and guys building up.”
Reds outfield prospect Blake Dunn is dealing with elbow irritation. “We’ll do some aggressive treatment and hopefully get him right back out there,” Bell said. “He had an exam and MRI and all that. We think we can get it knocked out.”
Great Uniform Scandal of 2024 takes twist
After widespread angst and complaints from players across baseball over MLB’s newly designed uniforms this year, the Cincinnati Reds were greeted in the clubhouse were greeted this week by a team of tailors from designer Nike.
The sometimes ill fit and lack of custom design – especially with the pants – was one of the more substantive parts of players’ complaints over what MLB commissioner Rob Manfred called “performance wear” uniforms.
So is the Great Uniform Scandal of 2024 over?
“We’ll see,” said Reds pitcher Nick Martinez, one of the Reds who noted the flaws in the new designs. “We’ll find out when I get [the new uni].”
Score one for Manfred and MLB getting out in front of the issue and making the fixes, right?
Not so fast.
Turns out the measurements taken for alterations on Monday amounted to little more than waist and inseam tailoring – not anything close to the ultra-custom, top-to-bottom fitting Nike’s previous partnered manufacturer, Majestic, used to provide.
In fact, the Reds are picking up the slack on that difference in-house, adding the sizable* job of detailed measurements of each player and alterations of every uniform that needs them to an already hard-working staff.
Stay tuned. Uni-Gate might not be over just yet.
*-pun intended
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds 2B Matt McLain suffers oblique 'aggravation'
