Joey Votto's first full season

[OnBaseMachine]

Joey Votto is up to 495 career atbats, which put him roughly around 55 plate appearances shy of a full seasons worth of atbats. So far in his first 495 atbats Votto has hit .295/.354/.475 - .829 OPS with 30 doubles, 1 triple, and 19 homeruns with a 45 BB/96 K ratio. If you project that out over a full season of atbats it projects to .295/.354/.475 with 34 doubles, a triple, and 21 homeruns and 84 RBI. The average NL first baseman this has hit .273/.357/.467 - .824 OPS. Obviously Votto is far from being an Albert Pujols but his first full has been a successful one IMO. He's been a slightly above average first baseman despite the majority of his atbats coming in the 7th spot in the lineup. That's not bad at all, and I think he'll improve as he gets older and moves up higher in a more favorable hitting spot. I still like him as a future .875 OPS type of hitter.

[klw]

That will do pig. That'll do.

[Superdude]

He's been in a pretty bad power skid since the end of May. It'd sure be encouraging to see him turn that around in September.

[Degenerate39]

That will do pig. That'll do.

Canadian Bacon!

[Ltlabner]

YEAR NAME       AGE  PA   EqA  OBP  SLG  RAR   RAP  RC/27
2008 Joey Votto 24   453 .277 .353 .460  22.5   -2    6

Not too shabby for the kid's first full year in the bigs.

He's getting on base at a good clip and showing decent power. That SLG may be dipping due to (1) fatigue (2) Being told to be agressive (3) Feeling that he has to do it all (4) The league figuring him out a bit or (5) All of the above.

He's producing far more runs than a replacement level guy would (RAR) but doesn't produce as many runs as your average NL 1st baseman (RAP). That's not neccessarly a problem when you're being compared to Howard, Berkman, Pojuls, Derick Lee and Fielder. But you better make up for the lack of production elsewhere. And our elsewhere doesn't include a Utley, Glaus, Rameriz or Braun.

His defensive has been spotty at times but he's a rookie and he's taking throws from EE and Keppenger.

Next year I'd like to see him return to being a paitent hitter instead of trying to be a power hitter. Be paitent, work the count and wait for your pitch. Don't go up there being "agressive" or whatever other crap he's been told.

[jojo]

I'd say solid rookie campaign with room to grow both with the wood ad the leather. I think he's been exactly as advertised.

The Reds should be proud of their home grown talent.

[OnBaseMachine]

Next year I'd like to see him return to being a paitent hitter instead of trying to be a power hitter. Be paitent, work the count and wait for your pitch. Don't go up there being "agressive" or whatever other crap he's been told.

Agreed.

Joey was a very patient hitter in the minors and I expect that to translate to the majors with more experience. Hopefully Dusty leaves him alone and continues batting him higher in the order.

[Joseph]

Joey is 20/85 written all over him. That doesn't bother me in the least if he's solid defensively.

I see it being something RZ will go nuts over in a season or two when he's not putting up Berkman and Pujols numbers. He'll be offered up in every deal a RZer proposes and every bad defensive player the Reds have will be moved to first base as a result.

Good luck Joey Votto, bring your hard hat, it only gets rougher from here for players like you.

[RedsManRick]

I've always thought of Votto as roughly the same as Sean Casey in terms of total value. He's more of an athlete/defender and will likely hit fewer singles, take more walks, strike out a bit more, and hit for a touch more (ISO) power. But on balance, the production will probably be similar, an OPS in the .850-.900 range with roughly average defense.

Everybody will love him until he starts getting expensive.

[Red in Chicago]

i certainly could have missed it somewhere, but do we know if joey's father suffered from a lingering disease or condition? i ask because he started out solid, but then had a rough june and july. he appears to be back this month. just an idea.

[jojo]

Joey is 20/85 written all over him. That doesn't bother me in the least if he's solid defensively.

I see it being something RZ will go nuts over in a season or two when he's not putting up Berkman and Pujols numbers. He'll be offered up in every deal a RZer proposes and every bad defensive player the Reds have will be moved to first base as a result.

Good luck Joey Votto, bring your hard hat, it only gets rougher from here for players like you.

Ya. He has a ceiling of slightly above average first baseman written all over him. That's not a pejorative-it's a positive. He basically has the potential to allow the Reds to write him into the lineup and forget about first base for the next 4-5 years.

That's kinda huge IMHO.