Joey Votto: Best, Worst, Outliers, and Oddities

Issue #196

Reds 1B Joey Votto, who turned 41 a few days ago, recently announced his retirement from baseball. He was with the Blue Jays organization this year, playing in 31 games in their minor league system—but the Reds is the only team he’s ever played for at the major league level.

From a few interviews I’ve seen, I suspect we’ll see him back in the game at some point in some capacity, perhaps in the broadcast booth or doing analysis/commentary on ESPN, MLB Network, or elsewhere. Or I’m sure he could get into coaching, starting say as a hitting instructor in the minor leagues or Caribbean (hint: he has been studying Spanish lately.)

As I’ve done for a couple of Hall of Famers who passed away in recent years (Gaylord Perry and Brooks Robinson), I decided to do a little digging into Votto’s career numbers. So this is the latest in my player profile series that I’m calling “Best, Worst, Outliers, and Oddities.”

Standard Numbers and Accolades

Before I get to some more unique bits of interest, here are the standard numbers and accolades that reviews of Joey Votto’s playing career usually include:

• Played in the majors for 17 seasons, from 2007-2023, all with the Cincinnati Reds.

• He was NL Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2008 (the winner was Cubs’ Catcher Geovany Soto).

• He was a six-time All-Star, 2010 NL MVP, and 2011 Gold Glove Award winner. He narrowly missed winning a second MVP in 2017 when he tied Giancarlo Stanton with 10 first-place votes but came up short overall (302 vote points to 300).

• He led the NL with 40 doubles in 2011, led the league in walks five times, and OBP seven times.

• Scored 100+ runs five times, hit 30+ HR three times (with three more seasons of 29 HR), and had 100+ RBI three times.

• Career slash line of .294/.409/.511 with a 144 OPS+. For the seasons 2007-2023, Votto’s 144 OPS+ ranks 7th amongst players with 2,000+ plate appearances, behind only Mike Trout, Yordan Alvarez, Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani, and David Ortiz.

• During that same span of years he ranks third in total bWAR with 64.5, behind only Trout (85.2) and Mookie Betts (64.8).

• Amongst all players in MLB history who played the majority of their games at 1B, Votto’s 64.5 bWAR ranks 13th behind Lou Gehrig, Albert Pujols, Cap Anson, Jimmie Foxx, Roger Connor, Rod Carew, Jeff Bagwell, Dan Brouthers, Rafael Palmeiro, Johnny Mize, Eddie Murray, and Ernie Banks.

• Reducing the threshold to having played one-third (33%) or more games at 1B only adds three more players ahead of Votto: Stan Musial, Frank Thomas, and Miguel Cabrera.

• Career totals:

  • 2056 games

  • 8,746 plate appearances

  • 1,171 runs and 1,144 RBI

  • 2,135 hits

  • 459 doubles, 22 triples, 356 HR

  • Even with 1,365 walks, he had even more strikeouts (1,640)

• Sadly, Votto had minimal post-season opportunities. He went 7-18 (.389) in the NLDS in 2012, but all seven hits were singles. And he didn’t hit well in other post seasons, so overall was only 10-41 with all singles and a .244/.319/.244 slash line.

His rankings in bWAR amongst 1B is striking to me and I think a good starting argument for Votto being deserving of the Hall of Fame. An MVP award (and as noted nearly a second one) and a Gold Glove Award are also a nice accolades. Being an All-Star six times is solid, but not spectacular for HOF consideration.

The main thing people point to is what Votto did better than almost everyone else in the game: get on base. His .409 career OBP ranks 40th overall amongst qualified hitters. And it ranks 9th amongst hitters who played since the 1980s, with only Barry Bonds (.444), Juan Soto (.421), Frank Thomas (.419), Edgar Martinez (.418), Wade Boggs (.415), Todd Helton (.414), Manny Ramirez (.411), and Mike Trout (.411) having higher OBP.

In my view, although his traditional counting stats are not huge, Votto should and will be elected into the Hall of Fame. I doubt he’ll make it in five years on his first ballot try, but perhaps on his second, third, or fourth time around.

Where Votto Ranks on Reds’ Leaderboards

Votto played his entire MLB career for the Reds, and so as a result as climbed up some of the franchises’ all-time leaderboards (which is a long history, going back to 1882). The following data is based on the listings at Baseball-Reference.com:

• WAR (the Baseball-Reference version): 64.5 ranks fourth behind only Pete Rose (78), Johnny Bench (75.1), and Barry Larkin (70.5).

• OBP: .409 ranks second, behind only Joe Morgan’s .415 OBP for the Reds.

• SLG: .511 ranks sixth, behind Frank Robinson, Adam Dunn, George Foster, Ken Griffey Jr., and Ted Kluszewski.

• OPS: .920 ranks second, behind only Frank Robinson’s .943.

• OPS+: 144 is fourth behind only Frank Robinson (150), Charley Jones (149, old-time in only five seasons for the Reds), and Joe Morgan (157)

• Games Played: 2,056 is sixth behind Pete Rose, Dave Concepcion, Barry Larkin, Johnny Bench, and old-timer Bid McPhee.

• At-Bats: 7,252 is also sixth, behind the same five guys as games played.

• Hits: 2,135 is fourth, behind Pete Rose, Barry Larkin, Dave Concepcion, and Bid McPhee.

• Runs: 1,171 is fourth, behind Pete Rose, Bid McPhee, and Barry Larkin.

• RBI: 1,144 is third, behind only Johnny Bench and Tony Perez.

• Doubles: 459 is second only behind Pete Rose’s 601.

• Home Runs: 356 is second only behind Johnny Bench’s 389.

• Total Bases: 3,706 is second only behind Pete Rose’s 4,645.

• Walks: 1,365 is first all-time for the Reds

• Strikeouts: 1,640 is also first all-time for the Reds

Votto also appears on some of the Reds single-season top-10 lists, including:

• WAR for position players: 10th with a 8.1 WAR in 2017.

• OBP: four of the team’s top-10, including second place with a .459 in 2015

• SLG: sixth with a .600 SLG in 2010

• Doubles: tied for eighth with 44 in 2012

• Walks: top three in Reds history with his high being 143 in 2015

Splits

Many of Votto’s career splits were not surprising to see:

• As a left-handed batter, he was more effective against RHP (.301/.418/.532) than LHP (.279/.389/.463)

• His location splits were pretty even, as he hit .289/.413/.517 at home and .299/.406/.506 on the road.

• He hit very consistently between night and day games: .294/.410/.512 at night, and .296/.408/.509 during day games.

• He did manage to hit a bit better during the second half of seasons (.303/.422/.531) than the first half (.291/.403/.499).

Best and Worst Team Opponents

Votto hit pretty consistently against most teams, with only a few standouts:

• He hit very well against the Astros, slashing .355/.434/.577 in 75 games and 320 PA.

• He displayed more power against the Cubs, slashing .308/.414/.575, with 50 HR in 229 games and 997 PA.

• The only common opponent that really stands out with noticeably lower numbers was the Giants, against whom he slashed only .266/.363/.428.

Best and Worst Stadiums

The big reason Votto’s above numbers against the Astros were so good? He hit very well at Minute Maid Park: .400/.466/.658 in 39 games and 176 PA. Similarly he did great at the Cubs’ Wrigley Field too: .321/.422/.607 in 118 games and 517 PA.

Three other stadiums where Votto excelled as a visiting hitter included of course Coors and two others:

• Colorado’s Coors Field: .324/.426/.544 in 37 games and 162 PA

• The Padres’ Petco Park: .331/.439/.531 in 43 games and 173 PA

• Washington’s Nationals Park: .341/.441/.589 in 36 games and 152 PA

On the other hand, these are the road stadiums where Votto didn’t do as well:

• Dodger Stadium: .272/.337/.494 in 45 games and 178 PA

• Cleveland’s Progressive Field: .263/.351/.483 in 32 games and 134 PA

• Miami’s Marlins Park: .253/.400/.323 in 29 games and 125 PA

Best and Worst Pitching Opponents

Over Votto’s career he batted the most often against Adam Wainwright (77 PA), Wandy Rodriguez (61), Jon Lester (59), and Kyle Hendricks (57). Of those four, he really crushed Hendricks to the tune of a .415/561/.976 slash line with 6 HR in those 57 PA. Here are some other pitchers he hit really well (40+ PA):

• Lance Lynn: 41 PA, .433/.585/.600

• Chris Carpenter: 44 PA, .417/.523/.639

• Zack Greinke: 40 PA, .371/.450/.743

• Jaime Garcia: 55 PA, .370/.473/.609

• Wandy Rodriguez: 61 PA, .357/.410/.607

• Michael Wacha: 55 PA, .354/.418/.646

• Matt Garza: 45 PA, .351/.467/.514

Over his career he hit the most HR off of the aforementioned Hendricks (6) and Wainwright (5). Next in that list is the lesser-known Cody Ponce who he managed to hit 4 HR in only 9 plate appearances.

On the other hand, the pitchers that he struggle against include: (35+ PA):

• Carlos Martinez: 48 PA, .156/.417/.250 - he might not have hit Martinez well, but seeing that .417 OBP means he still drew plenty of walks!

• Gerrit Cole: 35 PA, .185/.343/.222

• Jameson Taillon: 39 PA, .188/.333/.219

• Francisco Liriano: 37 PA, .194/.324/.290

• Jason Hammell: 38 PA, .219/.342/.344

• Jon Lester: 59 PA, .226/.305/.453

• Jeff Samardzija: 52 PA, .238/.385/.357

Oddities

• Joey Votto was born in Toronto, Canada. His 64.5 bWAR are the second most by any Canadian, trailing only Larry Walker’s 72.7. So clearly Votto would be the starting 1B on an All-Time Dream Team for players born in Canada, and along with Walker and pitcher Ferguson Jenkins, he’s pretty clearly one of the top three Canadian MLB players.

• After several good seasons in the minors, in his first start in the majors Votto went 3 for 3 with 2 runs, a walk, and a home run.

• Early in his career, on May 7, 2008, Votto hit three home runs in a game against the Cubs.

• After the 2011 season the Reds gave Votto what as at that time the longest guaranteed contract in major league history, a 10-year agreement worth $225 million.

• Votto had an outstanding game on May 13, 2012 against the Nationals. He had 3 HR (including a game-winning grand slam) and a double for a total of 14 total bases.

• On June 9, 2015 Votto had his third, 3-HR game, tying him with Johnny Bench for most in Reds history.

• In the last Reds game of the 2023 season—and a game widely speculated to be the last of Votto’s career—he was ejected in the 1st inning for arguing balls and strikes. He became a free agent after the season, and struggled in limited time in the minors for the Blue Jays this year—so that was indeed his final major league game.

• Upon announcing his retirement a few weeks ago, Votto indicated that his immediate plans were to earn a college degree in Spanish language, and that he had already started working on this via online classes.

• According to the Joey Votto page at Wikipedia: “Votto was described in a 2021 profile in The Athletic as perhaps "the most interesting man in baseball." Teammates described him as "his own man," "a genius" and "on a different wavelength than most people." Whitney McIntosh of SB Nation described him as a "magnificent weirdo" in 2015. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Votto began using social media for the first time to combat feelings of isolation and engage with fans. His TikTok and Instagram posts quickly became popular, as Votto created videos with family and Reds staff. Votto frequently posted about his love of chess and has appeared at multiple local competitive chess tournaments in Toronto.”

Quotations

Here are a few quotes attributed to Joey Votto over the years:

• “I want to be great at what I do. I take a lot of pride in it. And I try not to sell myself short in my work and preparation.”

• “Cincinnati is a prettier city than people give it credit for, I like it here, like the people. They’re so polite.”

• “No matter what, I’m being paid to perform.”

• “Personally, until Mike Trout came in the league I thought I would be in the conversation for best player in the game. Then he screwed that up for everybody - Babe Ruth and Ted Williams included. He has ruined it for everyone.”

• “Hitting is very challenging, you never get it solved.”

• “There’s only a certain percentage of the strike zone that you can do extra-base hit, barrel damage with the ball. Just because it’s in the strike zone doesn’t mean you have to take a cut at it.”

Additional Reading and Resources

• Joey Votto page at Baseball-Reference.com

• “That’s it. I’m done.” - article by Joe Posnanski

• Roundtable: Is Votto a Hall of Famer? at MLB.com

All data is from Baseball-Reference.com, and also their subscription service Stathead.com. If you are a big sports fan, be sure to check out the latest features at Stathead and the Sports Reference family of sites.

Did you know? I wrote a book with the same title as this Substack newsletter / blog: Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises. It was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports, the publisher of the annual Bill James Handbook and other popular titles. You can learn more about it at www.NowTakingTheField.com, or buy directly at Amazon and other booksellers.