Joey Votto a worthy candidate for NL MVP
NL MVP finalist Votto started all 162 games and put up impressive stats.
The Reds first baseman, who was named a finalist Monday, reached base a team-record 321 times while starting all 162 games.
Joey Votto doesn’t CINCINNATI — want to toot his horn when it comes to Most Valuable Player Award. He doesn’t need to anyway.
The Cincinnati Reds know how to promote their star player, and the people who know baseball, who look beyond the most obvious stats and don’t penalize Votto for playing for a last-place team, realize what he accomplished in 2017.
Minutes after Votto was named a finalist for the NL MVP on Monday, he was asked if he had the best season of the three finalists.
“I definitely can’t answer that,”
Votto said. “I will say playing every day adds a degree of difficulty, and playing for a noncontending team adds another degree of difficulty. I’m not sure if it was the best performance. I have no idea. But playing those extra innings can be a bit of a challenge.”
Votto became the first Reds player to start all 162 games in a nonstrike year since Pete Rose in 1975. Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton and Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt, the other finalists, started 153 and 152 games, respectively.
Votto admitted there were times he was not in peak condition. On the other hand, he liked playing every day, even if he didn’t get the benefit of ducking the best starting pitchers or relievers. He thinks it was his best offensive season — even if some of his stats fell short of his MVP season in 2010 — because he did play every day. Votto started 145 games in 2010.
“I don’t feel like you can get better without playing,” Votto said, “but there are challenges, and they can at times hinder top-end performance. There’s a reason why there’s a trend toward resting players because teams collectively want to get to the high-
continued from C1 est level of performance of a player as often as possible.”
The MLB Network will announce the MVP winner at 6 p.m. on Nov. 16. If Votto wins, he would be the third Red to have two MVP awards. He won his first in 2010.
Joe Morgan won in 1975 and 1976. Johnny Bench won in 1970 and 1972. In all, Reds players have won 12 MVP awards.
Votto hit .320 with 36 home runs and 100 RBIs. He reached base a team-record 321 times, a number that led all of baseball. He led the league with a 1.032 OPS and led baseball with a .454 on-base percentage.
However, Votto was most proud of his defense. He’s a finalist for the Gold Glove. He said he was concerned he would repeat some of the defensive mistakes he made in 2016 and did a lot of work behind the scenes to avoid that.
“I was very scared I was starting the process of declining as a player,” Votto said. “The next subject would have been possible trades to an American League team. Should he DH? Those sort of things.”
The process of getting ready for 2018 has already started for Votto. There’s no most important part of the year, he said. Every month is important.
“I’m a firm believer that you have to use the season to get better, to acquire new skills, to make adjustments, to adapt to the changing landscape of the game,” Votto said. “I feel like you have to evolve against the best competition. The only way you can do that is by playing. With that being said, there are times in the offseason where there are windows where you can look back and see where you came up short or where you need to grow, and that’s what I’m trying to do right now and that’s what I’ve done in previous years.” Contact this reporter at 937244-7400 or email David. Jablonski@coxinc.com.