CHICAGO – Joey Votto went through about a 35-minute workout at Great American Ball Park on Friday afternoon.
He took swings off a pitching machine. He worked a little bit at first base. Then … he worked on his radio play-by-play skills.
After completing his workout, recovering from a broken left thumb, Votto joined Tommy Thrall and Chris Welsh on WLW’s broadcast of the Cincinnati Reds’ game against the Chicago Cubs for the final four innings.
“I don’t think I’m ever coming back; I’m bad luck,” Votto said after the Reds lost 1-0.
Votto covered a variety of topics during his innings in the broadcast booth. Here are some highlights:
• Votto broke his thumb when he was hit by a pitch on May 5. “It’s an odd experience because I’m able to move really well, run. I can even swing the bat pretty close to 100%. But I play first. I have to catch the ball and this is on my catching hand. I feel like I’m making progress and I did not know it would take this long. I was hoping to be back sooner."
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• The Reds were five games under .500 after Friday’s loss. “I think we’re underachieving. I think we’re under-performing. I think that if you were to ask everyone, they would agree with me. We’ve got very high expectations and we haven’t met those yet. And it gets late early. We were very fortunate last year to get hot late, but we can’t expect that to happen every year. We need to get going now. You saw that urgency in D.C.”
• What was the biggest difference between pitchers now and pitchers at the beginning of his career? “Wade Miley and I were talking about that. When we first came up, it was more chess game. Now it’s a heavyweight boxing match. You have to step up and try to knock your opposition out. I’m walking up there and dealing with a power puncher and I have to attack back. That was the adjustment I made over the last couple of years. I thought I was playing chess. It turns out that it’s more of a fight where you usually get KO’d.”
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• Votto, taking over play-by-play duties in the bottom of the sixth inning, says he likes to study Kris Bryant. “One of the best players in our sport – ball two, down and away, ball two – and he moves well for a guy his size. Great power. Hits the ball hard all over the field. I was just about to say, breaking ball, fastball, high fastball, it seems like he can cover just about everything and he has a good eye.”
• After Javier Báez fouled a 3-2 pitch, Welsh noted that Votto has done “a few of those.” Votto laughed and said he’s trying to do fewer of those. “I’m trying to be more aggressive up there. I have been. I’m glad the change is paying itself off. When I come back, I am going to play well. I felt great. COVID really got in the way of my start to the year. It got in the way of the progress from last year. But I feel good and I think I am going to come back and play well. … I want to be out there every day. You get better by competing. It’s like those phone updates. You always get that software update each and every series. I’ve played a bit, and I want to play more.”
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• Votto praised Báez for his energy. “I think it’s wonderful. I love some of the changes in the game. I love the emotion. He is definitely at the center of that. I’ve got about 10 guys that I just love, love, love. Him, (Ronald) Acuña, there is a list, but for every one of them, there is a more stoic Mike Trout where it’s kind of steady eddy each and every day and you get the joy of their game and their smile. We’re in a fantastic era of potentially all-time great players that are just so lovable and so enjoyable to watch.”
• Votto raved about Nick Castellanos. "He has been so steady this year. I think that last year, he wasn't happy with how he performed. He had that great start and not the finish that he would expect. He has just set his mind on, 'I'm going to do this all year.' He has been among, if not the best, players in the National League this year. When you play with a guy like that, it makes you better, period."
• His musical tastes? Votto says he could listen to anything. He had tickets to a Lauryn Hill concert in Miami a few years ago, but he was unable to attend. "I'll go see anything. I've been to an eclectic group of concerts. It's more about the people. I saw Nickelback with my late father. Is Nickelback something I play? No. But I got to see it with him. It's more about the company."
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Votto wanted to stick around to call a home run. He joked he was staying on the broadcast for 17 innings if that's what it took.
The home run, however, never came.
“I can’t wait to be doing my real job in a Reds uniform wearing No. 19,” Votto said at the end of the game. “Thanks for having me everyone.”
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