Quotes from MLB Winter Meetings, Day 1

David Manning-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price addresses Joey Votto‘s hitting:

"My feeling about Joey is that I think it’s been mentioned, yeah, he needs to extend the plate to drive in runs. And I don’t believe that. I think it can be very difficult to work hard to get an understanding of the strike zone and be able to manage it like Joey does, and then ask him to go outside that strike zone to be productive with runners in scoring position. I think what we hope is that he’s able to take advantage of more of those triple counts, those times he’s in a good count and maybe not be quite as selective in that situation, still trying to hit strikes, but maybe not ‑‑ there’s sometimes where he got deeper into the at‑bat. In the end, he really did have a phenomenal year, and I think he’s conscientious, that one of his responsibilities will be to drive in runs, and we’ve got to present him with those opportunities, and I think we’ll see differences between 2013 and 2014."

Votto’s approach has been a constant subject since the beginning of the 2013 season. At times, Votto was heavily criticized by a portion of the Reds fanbase. While Votto a stat fiend’s dream, there are those that hold to the belief that he’s being paid too much to not drive in runs.

But I side with Price here and it’s not even close as to which side. Votto did have a great season.

But ask Brandon Phillips if he cared seeing #19 draw all those walks. You know he’ll answer your question.