Joey Votto
From BR Bullpen
Joseph Daniel Votto
- Bats Left, Throws Right
- Height 6' 3", Weight 220 lb.
- High School Richview Collegiate Institute
- Debut September 4, 2007
- Born September 10, 1983 in Toronto, ON Canada
[edit] Biographical Information
Joey Votto has won a minor league MVP award, played for the Canadian national team and became the Cincinnati Reds' starting first baseman in 2008.
He was selected by the Reds in the second round of the 2002 amateur draft. A catcher at the time, his high school did not have a baseball team, yet he was still picked 44th overall and signed for a $600,000 bonus. He debuted professionally with the GCL Reds, hitting .269/.342/.531 in 50 games with 9 home runs. He played primarily DH and third base that year. Votto's 25 extra-base hits tied Rajai Davis for the Gulf Coast League lead.
In 2003, Votto led Reds farmhands with a .406 OBP. He hit .231/.348/.287 in 60 games for the Dayton Dragons then was demoted to the Billings Mustangs, where he smacked the ball to a .317/.452/.488 clip with 56 walks and 80 strikeouts in 70 games. Votto led the Pioneer League in both walks and OBP. Now ensconced at first base, he led the league's players at that position in putouts (517), assists (36), double plays (48) and fielding percentage (.979). He failed to make the league All-Star team, losing out to Brandon Bounds.
Baseball America rated Joey as the #5 prospect in the Reds system entering 2004. Votto continued to impress during that season, leading Reds minor leaguers in OBP once more (.413) and also having the most walks (90), hits (143), total bases (237) and RBI (93) of their minor leaguers. His batting line was .302/.419/.486 in 111 games with Dayton and .298/.385/.560 in 24 contests for the Potomac Cannons. One negative was 131 strikeouts overall. Votto finished fifth in the affiliated minor leagues in walks. He again failed to make a league All-Star team as Brian Dopirak was picked as the top first sacker in the Midwest League. Baseball America moved him up to the 4th on their list of Cincinnati prospects.
Votto had his first decline year in 2005, only managing a .256/.330/.425 line for the Sarasota Reds with a .196 average against southpaws. He hit 17 home runs, drove in 83 and drew 52 walks while fanning 122 times. His 9 sacrifice flies tied Scott Moore for the Florida State League lead.
In the 2005 Baseball World Cup, Votto showed that his regular season was not the whole story. He hit .333/.371/.833 with 5 home runs, 10 runs and 16 RBI for Team Canada. He had the most RBI in the round-robin and finished fourth in the tourney behind Michel Enriquez, Yulieski Gourriel and Sidney de Jong. Only Gourriel clubbed more home runs than the Canadian 1B-DH. He made the All-Tournament team at DH.
Joey then went to the Mesa Solar Sox and was 9 for 36 with two walks and two doubles, backing up Ryan Garko at first base.
In 2006, he hit .319/.408/.547 for the Chattanooga Lookouts. He tied for third in the minors with 70 extra-base hits and tied Seth Smith for the most doubles (46). He led Cincinnati minor leaguers in hits (162), total bases (278), doubles, home runs (22), walks (78) and extra-base hits (70). He stole 24 bases in 31 tries and scored 85 runs while driving in 77. He hit .351 against right-handers, .262 against lefties. He paced the Southern League in practically everything - hits, total bases, extra-base hits, doubles, walks, OBP, batting average and slugging on offense and on defense, he led first basemen in putouts (1,068), assists (127), errors (14) and double plays (99). He was second in the SL in home runs. He fell one double shy of breaking the league record. The honors fell in left and right - Southern League MVP, Reds Minor League Player of the Year (as per Baseball America), SL All-Star first base. Baseball America finally put him on one of their "top prospects in the league" list - 7th in the SL, right behind Ryan Braun. Baseball America ranked him as the best batting prospect and best defensive prospect in the league - among those they considered him a better hitting prospect than were Braun, Andy LaRoche, Matt Kemp and Jarrod Saltalamacchia, all top prospects as well. He tied Jon Knott for third in the affiliated minors in extra-base hits. He played in the 2006 Futures Game, hitting third for the World team and going 1 for 2 before leaving the game.
Votto hit .294 with 7 RBI and 4 steals in 11 games for the Escogido Lions that winter.
Votto played for the Louisville Bats in 2007. He hit .294/.381/.478, made the International League All-Star team at first base and was named the league's Rookie of the Year. He was again picked for the Futures Game. Votto batted cleanup and manned first base for the World Team, getting four at-bats and hitting a homer off of Clay Buchholz, who a couple months later threw a no-hitter for the Boston Red Sox. He finished 7th in the IL in OBP, 8th in slugging, 7th in OPS, 4th in home runs (22), second in RBI (92, trailing MVP Mike Hessman only) and tied with Gary Burnham for 4th in walks (70).
On September 4th, 2007, the Cincinnati Reds announced that Votto would be called up from the minors and would be in the starting lineup on September 5th against the New York Mets. Joey's reaction to being called up: "I'm just happy to be here. My goal is to never go back down."
Votto got his first MLB action on the 4th against New York. He pinch-hit for Gary Majewski against Guillermo Mota and struck out swinging. In his first start, he batted 8th but went 3 for 3 with 2 runs, a walk and a home run off John Maine to help fellow rookie Tom Shearn win his second game. Votto hit a solid .321/.360/.548 with 17 RBI in 84 AB and a 127 OPS+ in his September call-up for the 2007 Reds.
Joey has a OPS+ of 140 through 32 games in 2008. On May 7, he hit three home runs in a game against the Cubs, becoming the 23rd player in Reds history to accomplish the feat and the first since Aaron Boone 5 years (minus a day) earlier.
Sources: 2005 Baseball World Cup site (seemingly defunct), 2003-2007 Baseball Almanacs, 2007 Reds Media Guide, MILB.com
