Votto's biggest problem is that he doesn't have Votto hitting in front of him
Votto's biggest problem is that he doesn't have Votto hitting in front of him
919191 (08-06-2013),JB12 (07-31-2013),jmac (07-31-2013),Larkin Fan (07-31-2013),Number_Fourteen (08-02-2013),OC_Red (07-31-2013),Raisor (07-31-2013),RedLegsToday (08-01-2013),reds1869 (07-31-2013),Tom Servo (07-31-2013)
“I don’t care,” Votto said of passing his friend and former teammate. “He’s in the past. Bye-bye, Jay.”
Votto has clearly been one of the best 10 position players in the NL this year, and probably top 5. I would love to see Votto get back to producing a little more power, and being in the top 1-2, but this version of Votto is still pretty damn good, and clearly not the problem.
I guess if you replace Votto this year with MVP Votto, you may only be 3 games back. Would that make folks happy?
jvs
Larkin Fan (07-31-2013),Raisor (07-31-2013)
That's pretty much dead on. Votto is the master of the two out, bases empty, opposite field single. One thing that has frustrated me about Votto since the knee injury is his (over)willingness to flip a soft liner opposite field. Don't get me wrong -- having a guy on base is never a bad thing -- but I think his picky-ness at the plate can be counterproductive to the lineup as a whole at times. He's at 0-2 before you can blink. Once he goes 0-2 he chokes up and just looks to put something in play. I would like to see him start driving the ball early in the count.
Falcon7 (08-05-2013)
To be honest, I have a hard time finding counts where Votto is appreciably worse than the league this year:
OK, he turns into Zach Cozart in a 1-2 count.Code:Split PA sOPS+ First Pitch 53 198 1-0 Count 29 184 2-0 Count 13 232 3-0 Count 26 164 0-1 Count 25 195 1-1 Count 25 120 2-1 Count 27 164 3-1 Count 44 144 0-2 Count 34 105 1-2 Count 58 79 2-2 Count 64 95 Full Count 85 102 After 1-0 233 160 After 2-0 103 173 After 3-0 44 163 After 0-1 197 129 After 1-1 206 110 After 2-1 143 144 After 3-1 78 124 After 0-2 67 141 After 1-2 117 90 After 2-2 115 104 Zero Balls 112 187 Zero Strikes 121 203 Three Balls 155 132 Two Strikes 241 108 Batter Ahead 224 158 Even Count 142 147 Pitcher Ahead 117 115
I'm not saying he is bad in any way at all. I'm just saying that with two on and one out he needs to look for something early in the count that he can tag.
Call me crazy, and I'm just being theoretical here, but if Ludwick shows any promise when he comes back I would bat Votto in the two hole for a few games with Ludwick at 3, Phillips 4, etc, just to see how it pans out.
Again, I am not saying Votto isn't a huge asset to the team. Unquestionably the best talent we have as an everyday player. I would just like to see better power/RBI's coming out of a guy we're paying $220 m over the next 10 or so years. I get that the loss of Ludwick clearly affects that production, but if Ludwick can drive the ball once he comes back (questionable with his age and the injury) I think it would be interesting to test Votto in the 2 hole when we play a team like the Astros in August.
Last edited by smith3t5; 07-31-2013 at 08:57 PM. Reason: adding to point
"Hey...Dad. Wanna Have A Catch?" Kevin Costner in "Field Of Dreams."
dfs (07-31-2013),Larkin Fan (07-31-2013),LoganBuck (08-01-2013),Number_Fourteen (08-02-2013),Raisor (08-01-2013),reds1869 (08-01-2013),westofyou (07-31-2013)
He should be more critical of him for the old Olay snags he tries to make.....on routine balls hit right at him.
without a dangerous hitter behind him I believe the best spot for Joey is #2 behind Choo where they will still pitch around him and they'd both be on base a lot and then Phillips and Bruce would have a lot of no out or 1 out chances to pick up a man or two men. Without protection he becomes a terrific on base machine. With protection watch him start driving the ball because he'd get better pitches to hit.
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Last edited by PERHitKing; 08-01-2013 at 03:59 PM.
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