(Photo: Karli Matthias/WCSN)
Sean McLain’s first taste of action at Phoenix Municipal Stadium was supposed to come on dirt.
Whether it be in the batter box making his first plate appearance as an Arizona State Sun Devil or in the infield at shortstop, the freshman may not have been expected by many to trot his way out toward the white 395 on the outfield wall and plant himself in center field for games this season. But to him, it was really no shock.
“I wasn’t really surprised,” Sean McLain said. “I knew it was coming.”
The freshman has been playing all around the field his whole life. His first position was shortstop, but the 5’11, 175 pound high-energy rookie maneuvered himself onto every base as a kid.
“I’ve been a utility player since Little League,” McLain said. “Nothing changes. The only thing that changes is I’m here in college now.”
Still, when head coach Tracy Smith said at an October scrimmage that “McLain would be our starting center fielder right now”, it turned heads. The freshman was listed on the team’s roster as an infielder when he got on campus and was ranked by Perfect Game as the 102nd best shortstop in the country– polling 13th in California. Prep Baseball Report had him ranked as the eighth best shortstop in Calif. and 37th best player in the state.
But PBR also had him ranked amongst outfielders – he placed 53rd in the country.
His listed position now on ASU’s official roster? Outfielder.
Sean McLain was never really supposed to an outfielder. Shortstop is the family position, and it’s all he and everyone around him knew growing up.
“He was a shortstop for sure,” his brother Matt McLain said. Matt also plays center field and shortstop for the UCLA Bruins and was a first round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2018 before opting not to sign with the club. “We used to do a lot of drills together out in the backyard and always field ground balls together.”
His dad, Mike, knew the same as well. He told the OC Sports Zone in 2018 that Sean McLain “plays shortstop mostly on his travel ball teams and that’s what they saw this summer. He just added outfield to his positions last year in high school ball.”
But slowly, Sean McLain started to move onto the grass, mostly due to his brother.
“He usually played up at my level,” Matt said.
“[Matt] was obviously at shortstop,” Sean said of his brother’s teams that he found himself on. “So that position was taken, and we had a great second baseman and a great third baseman just like we have now. Guys are just better than me, so I played in the outfield.”
Yet, that advanced talent around Sean McLain and the shift to a new position didn’t bother him.
“I remember him being pretty good from the start,” Matt said. “He’s good at most things that he does.
“He’s lucky. He was good right away.”
At ASU, it’s like deja vu for Sean. Talent around the diamond– Spencer Torkelson, Drew Swift, Alika Williams, Gage Workman – prevents Sean McLain from playing the positions he was accustomed to growing up, but he has settled into his outfield role without hesitation.
“I‘m looking to keep working, keeping my head down, and doing my thing, ” Sean said. “Doing what I’ve been doing since I’ve been here and since I’ve been little.”
Growing up, the McLains were like any brothers who were both into sports. Everything was a game.
“We were lucky enough that we were one year apart, so we were really close,” Matt said. “It was always competitive. On the field, we were trying to beat the other team, and at home, we were trying to beat each other. Whatever we did– whether it was baseball, basketball, football, card games, or anything like that– it was competitive. It was a lot of fun.”
Its clear that upbringing has influenced Sean into the emotional competitor he is today.
“Expectations have always been high with me,” he said. “I always set the bar high. Nothing changes. I’ve been doing it since I was little, and the expectations are still high.”
Yet, Sean McLain still has his beginnings with him. Those days of competing for everything are still fresh. Big brother is still, in fact, big brother.
“My older brother is my biggest mentor,” Sean said. “I look up to him and everything he does. I follow what he does.”
Matt knew his role. He said that he couldn’t think of anything that Sean had taught him or said stuck, but the brothers don’t hide anything from each other when it comes to baseball.
“It was both of us sharing knowledge,” Matt said of the two. “[Sean] has a lot of baseball knowledge, I have a lot of baseball knowledge, and we were just bouncing ideas off of each other and saying how we excelled out there– how to get better reads on balls whether it’s at shortstop, center field, or any other position.”
The two talk everyday according to Sean and have a group chat that features the youngest McLain brother, Nick, who is also a highly rated baseball player and will graduate in 2021.
“One of the biggest things that [Matt] says is, ‘Don’t get in your own head,'” Sean said.
If their competitive rivalry growing up and their excellence at baseball wasn’t enough, the McLain brothers have recently added another common denominator: playing the outfield.
Just like Sean, Matt was a shortstop his whole life but was less of a utility guy. Last year, Matt’s freshman season at UCLA, the Bruins decided to move him to center field, but halfway through the year, he was then shifted to third base.
“I was just ready to play wherever the team needed me at any level growing up,” Matt said. “Growing up I was mostly shortstop, but last year, I was center field and third base.
“Infield is definitely more natural to me because I grew up at short. Throughout the whole time I was always working on my infield stuff. It was a pretty easy transition I’d say.”
UCLA’s move gives the elder McLain another perspective on the game, one he can share with Sean.
“I’ve always went at it as whatever I can do to make the team win,” he said. “Whatever it was, I was prepared to do that. That’s where it all started, no matter what position it was.”
But the younger McLain might not even need it.
“I know he’s very versatile and very athletic, and I always knew he could play any position that he wanted,” Matt said of his brother. “It was just a matter of where [ASU] wanted him to play.”
Sean would be the first to say that he still has work to do. The peppy freshman who has drawn the eyes of Sun Devil upperclassmen has picked the brains of ASU’s roster which is littered with likely high MLB Draft picks.
“It’s been the best thing for me,” Sean said of being around a veteran locker room. “It’s been a blessing to talk to these guys everyday and bouncing knowledge off their head. I think this is the best locker room we’ve ever had here. It’s going to be a good year.”
He’s hit it off with the team’s current shortstop in Alika Williams, who is his locker room neighbor and has shared with him the most pointers.
“That guy is amazing at shortstop,” Sean said. “I look up to him too. He’s been a big mentor. I talk to him everyday about what’s bouncing inside his head and stuff. You can’t go wrong with Alika.”
Williams has been impressed with the freshman too. He said the team calls him a little gamer.
“He’s really come out,” Williams said. “He just goes out and plays as hard as he can. We love that. He’s going to be a huge part of this team this year.”
Gamer is a description that seems to fit.
“I’d say that’s accurate,” Sean said.
Matt added: “He’s for sure a gamer.”
But despite the praise from Williams, Sean McLain has made sure he’s spread his questions around. He’s taking advantage of an ASU roster that has six of the top 150 prospects in D1Baseball’s College Prospect Rankings for 2020.
“I’ll ask Alika [Williams] about ground balls, and Gage [Workman] about hitting,” Sean said. “All-around baseball questions; they’re always willing to answer and give feedback. These are some of the best players in the country on the left side of the infield. You look up to them and you want to be just like them.
“None of them are too big for me.”
Despite the outfielder’s confident mentality toward practically anything on the baseball diamond, there is still one thing he knows he needs to be better at.
“Every day I try and challenge myself with balls over my head,” he said.
His worth ethic makes him seem destined to get there.
“I don’t go out there and take practice easy,” Sean said. “I try to make it hard on myself so I can be the best player I can be at the end of the day. I try to get better everyday. That’s the main goal.”
Weaknesses can be negated by strengths though, and Sean knows he has at least one.
“Defensively, gappers or wall-balls,” he said of his fielding skills. “I’m really good running down the ball and tracking the ball.”
While Sean McLain is ready to take on center-field for the best and most spotlighted team of his young career, his brother is ready to move back to his home.
“This year I’ve been mostly working at shortstop,” Matt said.
But like his younger brother, he carries the same mentality: get better and win.
“I’m just ready to play and ready to do whatever it takes for our team to win,” he added.
But the brothers essentially switching positions isn’t the only wrinkle this season will bring. When ASU heads to Westwood in April, it will be the first time the two have played against one another in awhile.
“I think we played against each other when we were super young in a travel ball tournament, but it will be nothing like when we play against each other in April,” Matt said. “It will be a lot of fun. It will be competitive, and I’m excited for it. I’m sure he is too.”
In fact, Matt knows exactly how Sean feels about the matchup: he knows that his younger brother won’t treat it any differently.
“He likes to compete. He likes to win. And he likes to play baseball,” Matt said.
