Terry Francona Makes Matt McLain Decision Before Reds' Sunday Finale

The Cincinnati Reds entered Sunday's series finale against the Atlanta Braves at 29-28, sitting fifth in the NL Central and staring up at one of the best teams in baseball.

Atlanta came in at 40-19 with the top record in the National League.

Ahead of Sunday's game, Terry Francona sat both Matt McLain and TJ Friedl for the finale, giving Will Benson the start in the outfield instead.

"Matt's really trying to work on some stuff with Val and the guys, so trying to mix and match," Francona said pregame. "I wanted Benson to play today. Try to have your lineup make the most sense. That's kind of what you always try to do. We're obviously trying to balance a lot of different things."

The decision to sit McLain comes during a frustrating 2026 for the 26-year-old second baseman.

After a spring training that had him looking like a breakout candidate, the former first-round pick has hit just .199 with a .620 OPS through 54 games.

The month-by-month numbers tell the story of a season heading in the wrong direction. He batted .235 in March, .206 in April, and .182 in May.

McLain has shown flashes, including a late-May stretch where he led all of baseball in hits during the week.

But five home runs and 20 RBIs through nearly 200 at-bats are not the numbers the Reds expected, and the offense has felt that all season.

Francona referenced hitting coach Chris Valaika and the staff working with McLain on mechanical adjustments, a sign the club sees the struggles as fixable.

Friedl has been even worse.

The outfielder has slumped to a .176 average with a .257 slugging percentage through the first two months, and his playing time has dropped because of it.

He started just three of the Reds' last 13 games heading into Sunday, a far cry from the player who led off for this team not too long ago.

The shakeup is part of a bigger problem the Reds have been dealing with since the middle of May.

Cincinnati's offense has ranked among the bottom third of the league in wRC+, and too many bats in the lineup have gone quiet at the same time.

Elly De La Cruz has carried the load for stretches, but the production around him has been up and down, and that has put the Reds in a tough spot as they try to stay in the NL Central race.

Francona has never been a manager who panics, and sitting two regulars for a series finale against one of the best teams in baseball says plenty about where things stand.

The Reds need more from their lineup, and until guys like McLain and Friedl start producing, days like Sunday where Francona shuffles the deck should not come as a surprise.