It wasn’t a particularly notable home run in Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto’s career.
This season, Votto has already hit his 300th career homer. It wasn’t a walk-off. But in the Reds' 11-5 win over the Rockies on Friday, Votto hit a three-run home run off left-handed pitcher Kyle Freeland. Right when he made contact, Votto dropped his bat and stared to left field. When he crossed home plate, Votto shouted, took off his helmet, flexed and high-fived his teammates
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Earlier in his career, when Votto was a regular candidate for the National League’s Most Valuable Player award, Votto said the homer might not have meant as much as it did Friday.
“You only get to play for so long,” Votto said. “I’m trying to play as much as possible while I have the opportunity.”
On Friday, Votto hit his second home run since he returned from the injured list this week. He has improved his batting average, but Votto felt he had the opportunity to hit for more power, especially against left-handed pitchers.
Heading into Friday’s game, Votto ranked eighth on the Reds with a .217 batting average and fifth with sixth home runs. He also had a .147 batting average this season against left-handed pitchers.
When Votto spoke about his recent stretch of hitting for power, he knocked on wood as he spoke about the results.
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“I want to be in the lineup and help the team,” Votto said. “Not only do I get paid to do that –– and that’s neither here nor there –– it’s a pride that is very important to me. I want to be in the lineup as often as possible.”
Since the middle of last season, Votto said he has focused on his evolution as a power hitter. Over the last 10 years, Votto has led MLB in on-base percentage three times, but he has never led MLB in slugging.
This season, the difference between Votto’s slugging percentage and his on-base percentage is greater than it has been since 2017.
“I wanted to in the middle of my career do everything,” Votto said. “I didn’t just want to be a good hitter, I wanted to be the best hitter in the sport. I wanted to be the best player. So I made small changes to my approach that resulted in doing the power and on-base thing and trying to be a good defensive player. It’s hard to do that.”
“I can still do parts of that, but I don’t think I can do quite what I did in my prime, which is fine. I know I can play well, I just have to go back to the way I performed when I first came up, and I feel like that’s a pretty easy transition for me.”
Manager David Bell said Votto has proven he can hit both left-handed and right-handed pitchers this season and during his career. In 2021, Votto has started regardless of the opposing pitcher when he has been healthy.
Bell also said he understood why Votto had such a strong reaction to Friday’s home run.
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“in the position I’m in, that’s the best part – seeing our team enjoy what we’re doing,” Bell said. “It’s hard and there’s a lot of challenges. I get to see guys' first-hand work and work and work and compete. There’s failure involved, so when guys have success, even Joey who has had a lot of it, I think it’s great that it can be shown and enjoyed.”
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