An unfortunate stat for Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto

It did not take much time for Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto to accomplish something that had not happened in years.

Votto saw a grand total of four pitches in his four plate appearances on Monday. Those four pitches resulted in five outs (a line out, two fly outs, and a double play). As noted by Jeremy Frank at MLBRandomStats on Twitter, this was the first time that a player had been responsible for more outs than he saw pitches since Maikel Franco on August 30, 2016.

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto has day to forget

Votto has not exactly had the type of season he would have wanted. The Reds’ first baseman had a resurgent showing in 2021, hitting for more power than ever while looking more like the perennial All Star he had been. Although he was 38 years old heading into this season, the Reds had hoped that his rebound would continue.

That has not been the case. Votto has seen his OPS drop by 241 points as he has battled injuries throughout the season. His .208/.323/.374 batting line with 11 homers and 18 doubles over his 372 plate appearances entering Tuesday were not what the Reds had envisioned, especially during their sell-off during the offseason.

Monday essentially encapsulated those struggles. Votto made contact, but the ball found a glove. His decision to ambush that first pitch kept him from increasing what is already a career high strikeout rate, but it resulted in his being responsible for those five outs.

Votto has been counted out before. He had a subpar 2019 campaign, posting a 95 OPS+ before bouncing back in the following two seasons. It is possible that he will make an adjustment in the offseason and return to the form that the Reds have come to expect. But as the years catch up, those struggles could be harder to overcome.

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto had a day to forget on Monday. He saw just four pitches in four plate appearances and made five outs.