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Cincinnati Reds: Votto’s post All-Star break play historic so far

By Jordan Wevers

Aug 19, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto (right) is congratulated by third base coach Bill Hatcher (22) after Votto hit a three-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 19, 2016; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto (right) is congratulated by third base coach Bill Hatcher (22) after Votto hit a three-run home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports /
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Joey Votto of the Cincinnati Reds is having a monster second half season, more than making up for his slow start to 2016.

Because the Cincinnati Reds were sellers at MLB’s trade deadline and are in last place in the NL Central division, the club has it’s fair share of detractors and critics right now.

But surprisingly, the Reds are actually 22-15 in the second half of the season and have quite a few players doing great things for them right now.

The first of which is their franchise first baseman, Joey Votto. Among other things, a slow start by him might be one of the primary reasons Cincinnati is under achieving this year.

A typical on-base monster throughout his career, Votto had no issues maintaining a .386 OBP in the first half. However, he hit only .252 and slugged .446, which are quite a ways off from his career norms of .311 and .532, respectively.

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Make no mistake, though. Since the All-Star break, Votto has been back to his old self, looking like the MVP candidate and winner of the award he was back in 2010. His pace right now is historic. He is seeing the ball so well right now, he could do something few baseball players at the major league level have ever done in modern history — beat Ted Williams‘ .406 mark for a second half batting average from his career defining 1941 season.

Since the 1930 season, only Williams and Bill Terry have hit better than .400 in an MLB season. Even in ’41 when Williams hit .406, that’s also what he hit in the second half. When Terry batted .401 in 1930, he hit .421 in the second half.

In more recent times, Tony Gwynn had a .383/.423 split when he batted .394 in 1994. Meanwhile, George Brett‘s 1980 split of .337/.421 helped catapult him to a batting title with a .390 average. But right now, with only about a month to go, Votto is making all of those second half splits look beatable.

Remember that first half batting average of .252? Well, on the whole it’s up to .310 now. That’s because through 160 plate appearances since July 12, Votto is an incredible 56-126. That equates to a slash line of .444/.538/.690. He has only 18 fewer hits in 37 second half games than he compiled in 86 first half outings.

Sabermetrically, he’s blowing the competition out of the water. His 1.228 second half OPS ranks first in MLB.  And easily. Jose Altuve, in potentially MVP for this year, comes in second at 1.084. Other categories Votto ranks first in since July 12 are OBP (D.J. LeMaheiu is 2nd at .452) and  wRC+ (218) and he is fifth in RBI with 32.

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To say that the Reds’ Votto is tearing the cover off the ball in the latter half of the season is an understatement. For a guy that looked like he was having his worst season on record in an otherwise bright career, Votto is now 12th in the NL in batting average and if things persist, could very well be in the mix for his first ever batting title.

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