What's the deal with Joey Votto?

[Blue]

[/B]

I could go for that one! Votto hits a ton of line drives, but has very good power as well. I would say its a little better than Edwins power and it comes from the left side.

I always figured him to have less power than Edwin. How many HRs and 2Bs do you think he'll hit?

[dougdirt]

I always figured him to have less power than Edwin. How many HRs and 2Bs do you think he'll hit?

Honestly, I would bet on Votto hitting 25 HR his first full season in the majors with 30-35 doubles.... especially in this ballpark as a lefty.

[dougdirt]

.385/.478/.590 in the month of May with 7 walks and just 5 strikeouts in 39 at bats (roughly 46-48 plate appearances).

[BucksandReds]

Can we switch him to a righty? I'm worried about the sweep tommorrow cause LA brings out another L. We get to face 2 lefties and a right handed ace of the top team in the NL west on the road. Exactly what this team needs at this time. Anyways back on subject. I guess that he'll be called up around the trade deadline. We all knew that his #s in April were a fluke. Looks like we were right.

[Aronchis]

Darn, don't tell me Votto is a lefty too? For some reason, even though it probably has been repeated over and over again on these board, I thought he was a righty?

Bruce is a lefty as well?

[Kc61]

Darn, don't tell me Votto is a lefty too? For some reason, even though it probably has been repeated over and over again on these board, I thought he was a righty?

Bruce is a lefty as well?

All lefties. Bruce, Votto, Hamilton, Dunn, Griffey.

If you look at the Reds as a work in progress, this is why they will need eventually to acquire a middle of the order right handed hitter. I even think the third baseman in A ball , Francisco is it(?), is principally a left handed hitter.

So don't fall in love with all these guys. Somebody will have to be dealt for a major righty bat. (Not Bruce, he stays.)

[dougdirt]

Francisco is a lefty, full time. He is listed as a switch hitter, but he has not batted as a righty all year.

Valaika and Stubbs are both righties. Both a bit away of course.

[Kc61]

Francisco is a lefty, full time. He is listed as a switch hitter, but he has not batted as a righty all year.

Valaika and Stubbs are both righties. Both a bit away of course.

Stubbs and Valaika -- while definitely major league prospects -- don't seem like middle of the order hitters at the major league level. Bruce and Votto do. It's not the most important item on the Reds' agenda, but they will need one big right handed bat and I don't see him in the organization right now, certainly not in the high minor leagues.

You can see a future lineup with Bruce hitting third, a righty bat cleanup, Votto or Hamilton fifth, Valaika sixth, Stubbs either lead off, second, or lower down.

[bthomasiscool]

Because nothing he is doing says he should be struggling. Is he hitting the ball at the exact same rate as last year? Yes. Is he hitting more line drives? Yes. Is he hitting fly balls at the same rate? Yes. Is he hitting ground balls at the same rate? Yes. Is his BABIP 130 points lower than it was last season? Yes.

Why should he adjust what he is doing? He is hitting the ball exactly the same as last year except his Hr rate is a little lower, but its about the same as it was at this time last year. He is hitting more line drives, which tells me he is seeing the ball better and getting better swings on it. He has been unlucky, simple as that.

There is another side to this, besides all of those numbers, the BABIP's the GOSBSLG's and the LMNOP's, there is the side saying that yes he may be hitting like he was last year, but being unlucky in terms of getting hits. This could one, make him change his approach, which would be bad; and more likely have get down on himself and screwing up his mental part of the game. Like Yogi Berra once said, "Baseball is 90% mental, the other have is Physical".

[dougdirt]

Stubbs and Valaika -- while definitely major league prospects -- don't seem like middle of the order hitters at the major league level. Bruce and Votto do. It's not the most important item on the Reds' agenda, but they will need one big right handed bat and I don't see him in the organization right now, certainly not in the high minor leagues.

You can see a future lineup with Bruce hitting third, a righty bat cleanup, Votto or Hamilton fifth, Valaika sixth, Stubbs either lead off, second, or lower down.

Stubbs brings very good power from the right side of the plate and while you are probably right that he will be Soriano'd (good power but because he is fast he will bat lead off because managers are too stupid in their old age to understand speed doesn't mean leadoff always) and will hit leadoff. The thing is, the Reds don't need to bring every player from their farm system. If they need a RH power bat, then they should be able to get one as a FA if they don't think there is one in the system.

[dougdirt]

There is another side to this, besides all of those numbers, the BABIP's the GOSBSLG's and the LMNOP's, there is the side saying that yes he may be hitting like he was last year, but being unlucky in terms of getting hits. This could one, make him change his approach, which would be bad; and more likely have get down on himself and screwing up his mental part of the game. Like Yogi Berra once said, "Baseball is 90% mental, the other have is Physical".

Well in May Joey Votto is back to being Joey Votto. The hits are falling in for him and he is hitting the ball hard still.

[CTA513]

The Bats have Votto playing left field today.

[dougdirt]

The Bats have Votto playing left field today.

Is this organization being run by morons? Best First base prospect in baseball..... eh, lets throw him out in left field. Wow....

[JaxRed]

You have to wonder if this is related to the Encarnacion to 1st talk. If you move Encarnacion to 1st, Votto has no place to go, unless he can play OF. Sometimes you have to see what your options are.... even if you don't plan to use them.

[icehole3]

I think having him move around is a plus, I'd like to see him try 3rd, Joey's a good athelete. He's as athletic as Ed E IMO.