Joey Votto will likely pass these Cincinnati Reds legends in 2022

Joey Votto has been a member of the Cincinnati Reds since making his debut with the club on September 4, 2007. The 2010 National League Most Valuable Player and six-time All-Star has accumulated 64.6 bWAR during his career in Cincinnati, the fourth-highest total in franchise history, and just 13.5 bWAR behind Cincinnati’s all-time leader, Pete Rose.

With a contract that extends through the 2023 season (with a team option for the 2024 campaign), it’s very possible that the 38-year-old Votto will play his entire career with the Reds and bypass Rose and other Cincinnati Reds legends in a number of categories before his stellar career comes to a close.

But, looking more in the short-term, there are plenty of milestone moments ahead for Votto in the 2022 season. Entering the 2022 campaign with 6,722 at-bats in a Reds uniform, he should become just the sixth player in Cincinnati history to log 7,000 career at-bats with the franchise (passing Tony Perez with 6,846 along the way).

Joey Votto passing Tony Perez is just one example of how the Cincinnati Reds record books will likely look different after this season.

Let’s take a look at some other categories where Votto will bypass members of the famed Big Red Machine and other Reds legends in 2022 (barring injury or unforeseen circumstances, of course).

Joey Votto will pass Johnny Bench on the Cincinnati Reds hits leaderboard in 2022

Entering the 2022 season, Votto has 2,027 hits to his credit with the Reds. That places him sixth on the franchise’s leaderboard in that category, with Pete Rose leading the way with 3,358 hits.

While Votto is sixth, he is not far behind Johnny Bench, who totaled 2,048 during his 17-year career with the Reds that earned him a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. With 22 hits this season, Votto will enter Cincinnati’s top 5 hitting leaders.

Looking past 2022

Votto’s 162-game average includes 173 hits, meaning that he is unlikely to reach fourth place this season (held by Bid McPhee with 2,258 hits). However, looking ahead, if Votto is able to keep up his past pace, things get very interesting in 2023.

If Votto reaches his average of 173 hits per season during 2022, that would give him an even 2,200 for his career. He would then need just 141 to grab second place and pass not only McPhee, but also Dave Concepcion (2,326) and Barry Larkin (2,340) on Cincinnati’s hit list.

Joey Votto will pass Barry Larkin on the Cincinnati Reds all-time total bases list in 2022

Votto will head to spring training with 3,497 total bases under his belt during his career. That includes the 252 he put up during the 2021 season.

If Votto puts up more than 200 total bases next season (his career 162-game average, by the way, is 298), Votto will not only pass Barry Larkin (3,527) and Johnny Bench (3,644) and into second place on Cincinnati’s all-time total bases list. Pete Rose leads the way with 4,645.

Votto needs just 147 total bases to tie Bench for second place. Outside of the pandemic-shortened campaign of 2020, Votto has topped that mark in every season since 2008 with the exception of 2014 when Votto played in just 62 games after suffering a strained left distal quadriceps.

Looking past 2022

Yes, Votto could well get into second place on this list next season, but that could still leave him more than 900 total bases away from catching Rose for the lead. Would Votto have enough time left in his career to catch Rose? It seems unlikely.