ADK

Matt McLain, IF

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Scouting report

Perhaps the most polished high school hit tool in the 2018 draft, McLain opted not to sign with Arizona as a first round pick. He's an easy plus runner and plays hard, but had a tough freshman year at UCLA playing in the outfield due to the draft-eligible depth in the Bruins' infield (Toglia, Strumpf, Kreidler); he then bounced back on the Cape and during an abbreviated 2020. McLain knows how to lift the ball in games despite having fringe raw power and his hit/pop combo should be enough to profile at either middle infield position or in center. I consider him a better fit at second base long-term, but there's a pretty large contingent of scouts who think he's capable at shortstop, where he'll likely play all of 2021.