Only 1 player in the National League is hotter than Reds' first baseman Joey Votto right now

Joey Votto has returned with a vengeance. Sidelined with an illness for a couple of weeks, Votto returned to the Cincinnati Reds lineup on May 20th. Since that time, Votto has reached base in 16 of the 17 games he's played.

In the last 15 days, Votto's slashed .318/.434/.750. He's racked up five doubles and four home runs while knocking in 15. Only San Francisco Giants' outfielder Joc Pederson has been hotter of late.

Since returning from the Injured List, Votto has posted an OPS of 1.140. He's had an extra-base hit in five of his last six games including three home runs. Votto has nine RBIs in those six games.

Reds 1B Joey Votto is one of the hottest hitters in the league.

Not only has Joey Votto been filling up the stat sheet, but the Cincinnati Reds as a whole have been the best hitting team in the National League over the past two weeks. Only the Toronto Blue Jays (.925) have a higher OPS during that time.

Cincinnati leads the NL in batting average (.301), on-base percentage (.365), home runs (19), RBIs (83), and OPS (.848). The Reds are second in slugging (.483) to only the Atlanta Braves. The Reds have also greatly reduced the number of swings and misses as they're tied with the Washington Nationals (90) for the fewest number of strikeouts during that span.

The Cincinnati Reds have the worst record in the National League and just lost three of four games to the lowly Washington Nationals. Yet the hits just keep on coming for Joey Votto and his teammates.

The Reds have been letdown by their bullpen of late, but the starting rotation has been dynamite with back-to-back fantastic outings from Hunter Greene and Graham Ashcraft.

Jonathan India, Max Schrock, Donovan Solano, Tyler Naquin, and Nick Lodolo should all be back in the coming weeks. Does this team have enough fortitude to make a run? If so, they better do it quickly. Cincinnati trails the Milwaukee Brewers by 12 games in the NL Central and the Redlegs are nine games back in the chase for the Wild Card.

The Reds will need Joey Votto to continue his assault on opposing pitchers if the club has any hope of making some sort of run. If the Reds are still well back of the competition when the calendar flips to July, the trade rumors will intensify.