Cincinnati Reds put all of their hopes on the bat of Joey Votto for 2017

The Cincinnati Reds have a future Hall of Famer and a handful of improving players offensively for 2017.

Joey Votto hasn’t punched his ticket as the next member of the Cincinnati Reds to make the Hall of Fame, yet. The one time National League MVP is the heart, soul, and hammer of the 2017 Cincinnati Reds. On top of that playing with a young team, he has been underrated the past few years. The rest of the players need to support him this season.

The player that most needs to support him is third baseman Eugenio Suarez. Suarez is set for a breakout year after playing 159 games. He belted 21 home runs in 2016, 10 at home and 11 on the road.

The other player that is integral to the support is Jose Peraza. As the replacement offensively for Brandon Phillips, he needs to replace the former second baseman’s 65 runs created. Peraza will have to match his best offensive season as a pro to match that output.

Another player who will need to pitch in is new right fielder Scott Schebler. Schebler should have a season similar to the one that Peraza needs to have. Schebler’s largest shortcoming may be his lack of power relative to playing right field.

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All of this support won’t matter much is Billy Hamilton can’t get on base at a least a .300 clip. If he can’t get on base, then he can’t bat lead-off. If he can’t bat lead-off, then it will be nearly impossible for Peraza, Schebler, and Suarez to make up the difference.

The Cincinnati Reds have three positions that appear to lack on base skill in 2017.

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Getting on base has been a weakness for All-Star left fielder Adam Duvall. He only has a career .291 OBP. He can’t be trusted with a top four spot in the line-up until he corrects this deficiency.

Another player that has a similar issue is shortstop Zack Cozart. He has a career OBP of .289, despite having an OBP of over .300 each of the past two seasons. He has decent power, but still needs to focus on getting on base.

The catching is a whole other matter. Tucker Barnhart usually gets on base at a high enough clip, but wears down throughout the season. The rest of the catchers that the Reds brought into camp have issues getting on base.

Chad Wallach, who came over in the Mat Latos deal with Anthony DeSclafani, can get on base, but may not be good enough defensively to catch at the major league level. Right now, it appears that the Reds are trying to hold things together until Tyler Stephenson is ready to be the everyday catcher. That may mean a good dose of Barnhart and Devin Mesoraco the next few years. Until Mesoraco comes back, though, Stuart Turner’s weak offensive game may hold the offense back.

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The Reds need to support Votto the best that they can. It is nearly impossible for one man, even one as good as Votto, to carry an entire MLB team. Hopefully, he gets enough support to make the games entertaining in 2017.

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