Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto starts season off slow for the second year in a row

For the second time in as many seasons, Joey Votto has gotten off to a slow start for the Cincinnati Reds.

Joey Votto turned down an invitation to play for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic to get ready for the Cincinnati Reds’ season.  That doesn’t appear to have helped the situation.  Nine games into the season Votto is batting .161.

Historically, Votto’s worst season is May, but his Aprils don’t leave much to be desired.  Last year Votto batted .229 with an OPS of .640 in April.  He followed that up with a May in which he batted an even .200 and struck out 34 times, the highest number for any single month in 2016.

This is a new phenomenon, however.  Votto owns a .296 career batting average before May 1.  That is in fact his lowest single batting average for a month, but it is still a good number.

Right now, in addition to a .161 average, Votto only has two walks compared to five strikeouts.  That is not Votto-like.  Votto also only has three RBIs after nine games despite batting third for the 7-2 team.

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Votto looked confused for the first two months of last season and he doesn’t look much better now.  Mostly it’s his command of the strike zone that once again appears lacking.  Unlike most batters, Votto usually adds about 115 points to his batting average with walks to get his OBP.

Joey Votto may have a rough May for the Cincinnati Reds, but his season always turns around later in the season.

Votto’s best career month is July, but it comes at an interesting cost.

It is the month in which he has the fewest career RBIs.  It is the only month in his career that he has less than 118 with just 95.

That is part of the Votto equation.  How much do you want Votto to be a team player and how much do you want him to carry the team?  In the first two months of the season, he hasn’t been much of either lately.

To get to his career normal April, Votto needs to get hot.  He should bat about .333 for the rest of the month.  He also should walk about twice as much as he has so far this season.  That hot streak and increased walk rate never came last season until June rolled around.

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This is the season to appreciate Votto.  He is a once in a lifetime type of player.  The fans want to embrace the perennial MVP candidate, but Votto has to do his part too.