Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto remembers looking across the clubhouse in the middle of May and noticing how rookie second baseman Jonathan India was carrying himself.
This was around May 10 when India was benched for three days. At the time, India was hitting .211, and he had just struck out seven times over a four-game stretch.
Votto had seen a similar story before where a promising rookie hits a wall after a few standout weeks. This time, Votto decided to pay close attention to how India would respond when his name was out of the lineup.
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“My favorite moment of the season was the look on his face when he had a rough stretch,” Votto said. “It was a look of determination. It was a look of I need to be at an even higher level to be here. It was pretty immediate when he came back, he knew he needed to perform better and he did. I admire that in him.”
Throughout the last two years, India kept having chances taken away from him, and his response made him a National League Rookie of the Year candidate in 2021. In September 2020, India was close to his first Major League call-up when he injured his oblique at the Reds' alternate site. Heading into 2021, India wasn’t a part of Major League spring training until he proved himself during the first three weeks of camp.
But his greatest setback nearly came in May. Center fielder Tyler Naquin had become a middle-of-the-order hitter for the Reds. Nick Senzel was the lead-off hitter at the time, and he moved back to second base around May 10 so Naquin could stay in the lineup.
That meant India was the odd man out.
“Every young player, every rookie player should struggle a lot more than he has,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He definitely didn’t talk to me during that time, but from everything I could tell, he handled it exactly the way you’re supposed to. He was ready for the opportunity when he got back into the lineup.”
Just like India did in spring training, when he wasn’t invited to big league camp, India said he told himself the he was ready to be a starting second baseman in MLB. During spring training, India said his message was, “(Forget) this, I'm going to make the team.” In May, India could draw back on that experience from two months prior.
So on May 10, India said he decided to act like he was still a starter. Votto and Bell both noticed.
"I didn't take it like, 'I'm on the bench today,'" India said. "It was another day in the office. I did what I had to do and made the most of it. It worked out for me. The mindset was really strong during that week.”
Later that week, Senzel was shaken up making a play in the field, and India got his spot back at second base. When Senzel returned to the lineup, Bell played him at third base.
India was a starter again, and he ran with the opportunity.
“When he went through the struggles, he was getting close to being sent down,” Reds shortstop Kyle Farmer said. “Most guys would just crumble. They would just crumble, a rookie doing that. He came back and fought.”
At that same point of the year, India made the biggest swing change of his young MLB career. He dropped his signature leg kick at the plate and replaced it with a smaller toe-tap. When that change worked, Bell moved India to the leadoff spot in the lineup.
And at the end of the 2021 season, India had the highest OPS in MLB among rookies with at least 250 at-bats.
“I did have a bad stretch, but that's part of the game,” India said. “I realized that right away. I never panicked. I had a lot of older guys help me out, so they made it easy on me. They said, ‘That's not even a bad stretch compared to what I went through.’ I always knew I was going to be here the whole year, and I was going to stick here.”
India finished the season with a .269 batting average, an .835 OPS, 21 home runs, 34 doubles and 12 stolen bases. India ranked eighth in MLB in on-base percentage this year, and he was one of three players with an on-base percentage above .375 and 12 stolen bases.
This time last year, India was still getting comfortable at second base after spending most of his professional career at third. He had just missed an opportunity to make his MLB debut due to an oblique injury. He hadn’t done enough yet to earn an invitation to MLB spring training.
One year later, India is the favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year.
“He has done everything in his power to make our team better,” Bell said. “He has personally had just a great season, great accomplishments, but he’s just simply made us a much better team by being in our lineup every day. I think that’s what it is all about."
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