Before Monday’s opening of the series in San Francisco, a struggling Joey Votto spoke to reporters about his need to hit “separate balls, balls off the wall, balls over the fence.”
Votto did not mention “balls at McCovey Cove,” but hit one of those who participated in the sixth inning of the Reds’ 3-0 win over the Giants at Oracle Park.
Between Votto’s first big goal of the season and Jesse Winker’s triumphant return from a calf problem with a two-run homer in the third, a Reds lineup that has been thrown at the start seems deeper than the bay. of San Francisco. And getting Wade Miley’s second unscored display in so many starts, 3 2/3 relay innings from Tejay Antone and Lucas Sims ’first stop doesn’t hurt either.
Votto, however, is always a fixture for this Reds offense. And the first week and a half of the season, that fixation point was a point of frustration. Votto entered this series with one of the lowest slugging (.162) and OPS (.367) marks of all major league regulars, despite its best success rate (39.4%) followed by Statcast (39.4%) since 2016.
“I’m not where I want to be,” Votto said before Monday’s game. “The ball has to go over the fence and I haven’t done it yet.”
Votto made an adjustment in his stance last year to hit the ball with more authority and sacrifice part of his elite discipline to seize power. But last season, the pitchers threw him fast balls 61.1% of the time.
This year, it has been only 49%.
“Not only that, of those fast balls, most have been higher in the area,” Votto said. “I have to burn the other options that the pitchers have and I have to burn higher speed balls. And, at some point, I’ll get quality releases. … I just have to make this adjustment. This will come. If it doesn’t come, I’m in a bad league. “
Votto certainly seemed to be in the right league when he connected with a fast ball from Jarlin Garcia down the area. The 104 mph sweeps that fell into the water made him the first Reds player to hit one in the Cove.
So this is one of the books. But most importantly, the solo plan was good for the soul. Votto has hit 10 balls this season at speeds of 100 mph or more, but only three of them have been successful. Two of the departures arrived Monday night, in a position in the third inning and in an eighth.
The bad luck of the ball caused Votto to be the Reds’ lone player with an OPS + below the average he entered Monday’s game. The Reds have the highest number of runs scored (69) in the Major by at least 11, and have the highest OPS (.857) by 10 points. They have done so with very little contribution from a future Votto Hall of Fame and with Winker, who was their best hitter in 2020, limited to just 16 bats so far.
Thus, although Monday’s victory did not – or required – an offensive explosion, the sources of the only crime were very well received. Winker is off the bench, and Votto is off the bench. This bodes well for a dangerous offense from the Reds.
“It simply came to our notice then [for Votto] just stay there and not try to change anything and keep hitting the ball hard like him, ”manager David Bell said.
Votto has had little consolation for his success rate.
“As for the difficulty of getting out of my bat, I’m supposed to do that,” he said. “I made this change last year. This change is already being talked about. I want to do this. But the ball has to go over the fence, the ball has to go into the gap ”.