Before Monday’s opening in San Francisco, a struggling Joey Votto spoke to reporters about his need to hit “goal balls, balls on the wall, balls over the fence.”
Votto did not mention “balls in McCovey Cove”, but hit one of the sixth rounds of the Reds’ 3-0 victory over the Oracle Park Giants.
Between Votto’s first big swat of the season and Jesse Winker’s triumphant comeback from a calf problem with a two-stage homer in the third, a line from the Reds that ran at first seems deeper than San Francisco Bay. . And getting Wade Miley’s second unscored display in as many starts, 3 2/3 innings without relief scores from Tejay Antone and Lucas Sims’ first save, doesn’t hurt.
However, Votto is always a fixture for this Reds offense. And in the first week and a half of the season, that fixation point was a point of frustration. Votto entered this series with one of the lowest slugging percentages (.162) and OPS markings (.367) of any regular in the major leagues, despite Statcast’s best hit rate (39.4%). ) since 2016.
“I’m not where I want to be,” Votto said before Monday’s game. “The ball has to go over the fence and I haven’t done that yet.”
Votto made an adjustment in his position last year to hit the ball with more authority and sacrifice some of his elite discipline for power. But last season, the pitchers threw fast balls 61.1% of the time.
This year it was only 49%.
“Not only that, of those fast balls, most were bigger in the area,” Votto said. “I have to burn the other options that the players have and I have to burn bigger fast balls. And then, at some point, I’ll get quality pitches. … I just have to make that adjustment. That will come. If he doesn’t come, then I’m in the wrong league. ”
Votto certainly seemed to be in the right league when he connected with a fast Jarlin García ball that was low in the area. The burning peak of 104 mph in the water made him the first red player to ever hit one in Cove.
So this is one for books. But more importantly, the solo shooting was good for the soul. Votto has hit 10 balls this season at 100 mph or more, but only three of them have opted for hits. Two of the exits came on Monday night, to a third half line and to an eighth line.
The poor luck of the batting ball made Votto the only regular red, with an OPS + below average that entered the game on Monday. The Reds have the most marked runs (69) in Majors with at least 11 and have the highest OPS (.857) with 10 points. They did so with very little input from a potential future Hall of Famer in Votto and with Winker, who was their best hitter in 2020, limited to just 16 bats so far.
So while Monday’s victory did not present – or required – an offensive outburst, the sources of the crime alone were very welcome. Winker is on the bench and Votto is on the bench. This bodes well for a dangerous crime by the Reds.
“It is very important [for Votto] to stay with him and not try to change anything and keep hitting the ball hard as he is, ”said manager David Bell.
Votto brought little consolation to his rate of strong blows.
“As for how hard my bat got out, I should do that,” he said. “I made this change last year. This change is already being said. I want to do this. But the ball must pass over the fence, the ball must go empty. ”