Joey Votto is on a Hall of Fame track. He’s aging incredibly well, especially when you consider the injuries that slowed him down in years past. His 160 OPS+ led the National League in 2016 thanks to a .326/.434/.550 line, and in 2017, he’s upped those figures to 170 and .317/.447/.603. It’s mid-August, and Votto already has the second-most homers in his career with 31. He’s outhit Miguel Cabrera for his career (158 to 152 OPS+), and is ahead of Bryce Harper and also the entire rest of the NL in OPS+ again in 2017.
Joey Votto is the best hitter in the NL but you’d never know it
Tuesday’s Say Hey, Baseball looks at Joey Votto’s greatness, Giancarlo Stanton’s historic homer, and Joe Maddon’s shift failing.
Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
You don’t really hear people talk about Joey Votto much, though. Sure, when he taunts a Cubs fan (or an entire stadium of them) you’ll see some Votto headlines, but he doesn’t get enough love for being one of the best hitters in the game. Harper is probably a better player thanks to his defense, and he hasn’t even hit his peak yet. Votto, though, has been doing this for 11 seasons now. His worst non-rookie campaign had him post a 125 OPS+ despite an injury that made hitting for power difficult.
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Votto has received some MVP love — he won the award in 2010, and he’s received votes in seven different seasons. The buzz he deserves just isn’t there, though, despite the fact that his patient style of hitting has not only survived, but thrived as the league adds more and more strike-throwing fireballers to pitching staffs to combat players like him.
We should talk about Joey Votto more. All of us! SB Nation, other outlets, fans. It can be a little tough since the Reds are in the basement and Votto is kind of stranded on rebuild island, but that’s just something we’re all going to have to get over. The dude just rakes and rakes, he’s got a persona that shines through in games, and we all need to recognize the greatness of both a little more often.
- Derek Jeter’s ownership group supposedly wants to get rid of the Home Run Sculpture in Miami, which is just a slap in the face and total disre2pect to the fans and Grant Brisbee.
- 20-year-old Red Sox rookie Rafael Devers made history on Sunday night with his basically impossible homer off of Aroldis Chapman, and then on Monday he made some more when he joined Ted Williams and Tony Conigliaro as the only other Red Sox player to homer in consecutive games before turning 21.
- Yeah I’m not done gushing over Joey Votto yet. Joe Maddon tried a four-outfielder shift against Votto, and it did not work.
- Tyler Clippard was traded to the Astros, and it interrupted him watching Game of Thrones.
- Giancarlo Stanton’s 250th career homer put him in some historic company, as he’s one of 12 players ever to have at least 250 homers before their age-27 seasons.
- Yankees’ trio Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, and Gary Sanchez all hit career homer number 40 on the same night.
- A fan asked Tim Tebow to say hi to their grandmother, and her reaction is pretty great.
- Chad Bettis returned from cancer to pitch for the Rockies, and the song that accompanied the moment was just right.
- After getting ranked as the literal worst park for concessions, the Rays have switched vendors.
- It took some time for it to happen, but Drew Pomeranz for Yonder Alonso turned out to be a blockbuster deal.
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