Joey Votto has struggled to hit his weight for the Cincinnati Reds in 2016. The 32-year-old is listed at 220 pounds. Until he either loses weight or starts to rake like the Joey Votto of old, something has got to give.
Votto is batting just .213 in 174 at-bats. That lightweight average dipped as low as .203 on May 23. The 10 points the left-handed hitter has added in a little more than a week’s time could be a sign that he’s finally starting to come around at the plate.
Votto could also recover some of his hitting health while in hitter-friendly Coors Field. In the first game of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies, Votto jerked a home run and blistered a two-out, bases-loaded ground-rule double to dead center field in a 2-for-5 effort on Memorial Day. Two more games left in Colorado could help Votto climb out of his hitting hole even more.
Despite the low batting average, Votto still draws his share of walks (28) to help boost his on-base percentage to .332, but he’s striking out twice as much (56) as he’s walking. Three of the previous four seasons, Votto finished the year with more walks than strikeouts.
The nosedive at the plate by Votto couldn’t have been timed worse for him. He’s languishing with a team that is on pace to break the franchise record for most losses in a season (101). He’s also making $20 million this season, which marks the first year that Votto is making at least $20 million as part of his 10-year, $225-million extension that keeps him under contract with the Reds through the 2023 season.
Votto has endured slumps before. He hit .219 over a 31-game stretch and 114 at-bats from April 23 through May 29 of last year. Then Votto went off to finish the year hitting .314 with a 1.000 OPS, which was good enough for third in the NL MVP voting.
But the longer his prolonged slump continues this year, the more concern there is for the Reds about whether or not Votto is already losing some of his heightened awareness when it comes to hitting. That’s a decline that the Reds can’t afford, especially this early into his mega-contract.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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