Joey Votto: Gladiator with a Louisville Slugger

The most impressive thing I saw last night from my viewpoint was Joey Votto’s 1st inning home run to the opposite field. Votto hits backside bombs, which not every player in this league is gifted to do. Where he hit that 3-run bomb last night isn’t a place where left handed hitters are supposed to reach all of the time. It was clearly left-center. That is special power.

I’ve said it before, but if I’m seeing it, scouts are seeing it. This guy is morphing into an offensive monster right in front of our eyes.

This wasn’t the first time I’ve seen him hit this type of home run. He hit a backside bomb on Opening Day and it landed just rows of where I was perched.


Votto is having one of those seasons. It’s one of those rare seasons a player has maybe once or twice in a career. As a fan, you come across it once or twice in 10 to 20 years of following a franchise. The stars are aligned, and Votto is raking for a contending team.

The opposition; the advanced scouts, they cannot find a hole in his game right now. They’ve run out of ways to get him out consistently. There is no solution for Joey Votto right now. You either walk him and increase his on base average and let him score runs against you, or you pay the piper and try and get him out. If you do that, he’s going to hurt you. His blast last night sounded like a gun shot off of the bat.

As someone who is very knowledgeable of the game said to me at the ballpark after the game last night; if the Reds make the playoffs, Joey Votto is going to be the MVP.