Welcome back to the Reds Beat newsletter! Mark Sheldon has covered baseball for MLB.com since 2001, including the Reds since 2006.

CINCINNATI -- One of Matt McLain's favorite offseason hobbies is golf, but hitting the links this winter has been out of the question. It's something the Reds' middle infielder estimated he'd typically be doing every other day near his Arizona home. 

But not after a right oblique strain ended McLain's rookie season early. 

"Obviously, I can’t do that," McLain said to Tommy Thrall and I during a Dec. 20 appearance on the Hot Stove League, carried by the Reds Radio Network.

With his driver, wedge and putter remaining in the bag, McLain has found other ways to stay busy. Of course, he was also finishing his injury rehabilitation. 

“It’s been a lot of rehab and stuff like that. I didn’t have too much time off," McLain said. "I’ve gone on hikes. I like hiking a little bit up and down Camelback [Mountain]. That’s fun."

Billiards is another burgeoning pursuit that's been safe for McLain's oblique.

“I’m not that good, but we’ve got a pool table at the house," he said. 

What McLain is good at, of course, is baseball. That showed with his performance for the Reds in 2023. The 24-year-old slashed .290/.357/.507 with 16 home runs and 50 RBIs in only 89 games. He was second among National League rookies in batting and third with his .864 OPS.

McLain didn't arrive from Triple-A Louisville for his big league debut until May 15. Because of his oblique injury, he didn't play any games after Aug. 27. While fellow rookies -- particularly Elly De La Cruz -- were in the spotlight, McLain sparked the club upon his arrival. Cincinnati was 18-22 when he showed up, then went 50-42 with him until he was injured. 

Had McLain not missed the final month, he might have finished higher than fifth in NL Rookie of the Year Award voting. The 82-80 Reds certainly could have used him, as the club went 13-14 in September.

That has McLain greatly anticipating the 2024 season.

"Not being on the field, especially at the end of the season, not being able to play and watching the team fight -- that was hard," McLain said. "It wasn’t easy to kind of sit on the sidelines and just watch. I’m eager to get back and I’m eager to start hitting. I want to go in there and I want to hit -- like, all day -- but I just can’t right now. I know it’s not the right time for it."

With the oblique injury behind McLain, hiking and playing pool has taken a backseat to hitting.

“I’m back to 100%," he said. "I’ve been swinging and stuff. I think we’ve gotten up to 100 swings at this point in the offseason. I’m full-go. I’m 100%, doing everything. It’s going well.”

McLain is working on some hitting adjustments that he hopes to take with him to Spring Training next month. He plans on being an early arrival, especially since he's already living in Arizona.

One of the things he worked on last season, and an area he will continue to seek improvement in 2024, is hitting fastballs at the top of the strike zone.

"Some of those four-seam guys who really ride the ball, I feel like if I can really take care of that fastball at the top of the zone, I can hit them at all the other places around the zone," McLain said. "That, and obviously, hitting the hanging breaking ball a little earlier in the count.”

Defensively, McLain -- who made 52 starts at shortstop and 33 at second base last season -- has been working out at both positions. The Reds have a crowded infield picture heading toward Spring Training, with six infielders expected to rotate around the four positions, plus designated hitter. 

“I think it will be good. It brings out the best in everyone," McLain said. "Guys have to play good to be in the lineup, and that’s what you want from a winning team. I want to play good on a winning team. When you have a lot of really good players playing well, that adds to the competition factor, and ultimately, it’s going to make us better as a team. That’s all that really matters at the end.”

The Reds Hot Stove League airs on either Tuesday or Wednesday each week at 6 p.m. ET on the Reds Radio Network. 

You can also listen to live and past Hot Stove League broadcasts online here.

I will be guest co-hosting with Jim Day on Jan. 17. We will be live from the BetMGM Sportsbook at The Banks in downtown Cincinnati. Come on down and check us out.

The deadline for clubs and arbitration-eligible players to agree to terms on a contract before exchanging 2024 salary figures is Jan. 12.

As a reminder, here are the arbitration-eligible Reds: 

RHP Tejay Antone (second time), OF Jake Fraley (first time), 2B Jonathan India (first time), RHP Lucas Sims (third time), C Tyler Stephenson (first time), LHP Alex Young (first time). 

In recent history, the Reds have stopped negotiations and gone to arbitration hearings against their players if they can't agree to terms on a contract before salary figures are exchanged. 

In 2023, the Reds agreed to terms with all six of their arbitration-eligible players ahead of the deadline. They did have a hearing in 2022, when the club won its case against Sims. 

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• Anthony Castrovince looks at 10 quiet teams that could soon get noisy, including two of the Reds' NL Central rivals. More >>

Jan. 7, 1971: Center fielder Bobby Tolan ruptured his Achilles tendon during an offseason Reds basketball game. Tolan missed the entire '71 season and the front office disbanded the club's offseason basketball team.

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