Votto likely to play in Toronto on Friday
Sidelined since May 3, Cincinnati Reds slugger Joey Votto is likely to return when the Reds play his hometown Toronto Blue Jays on Friday. Photo: Wikipedia
May 19, 2022
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
Slugger Joey Votto says he’ll likely return to the lineup in his hometown on Friday when the Cincinnati Reds begin a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
“I can’t think of anything that comes to mind that will keep me from being there on Friday,” Votto told reporters in a Zoom call on Wednesday (Watch the full call by clicking on the video below). “I mean I feel well. I’ve been competing well. I played defence for seven innings yesterday, so yeah I’m ready to play.”
Votto (Etobicoke, Ont.) has played three games on a rehab assignment with the triple-A Louisville Bats and High-A Dayton Dragons since last Saturday. Prior to that, he had been on the COVID-19 list since May 3.
Much like the 10-26 Reds, Votto had slumped to begin the season, batting just .122 with no home runs in 22 games.
“I’m a problem solver by nature when it comes to my job, so I spent most of my time [while sidelined], trying to come up with some simple ideas for return, the adjustments I’d like to make and that’s basically it,” said Votto in yesterday’s Zoom call. “And now I’m executing them in my practice work and in game, so it’s really nice to be back working.”
Votto placed no additional pressure on himself to return in time for the series in his hometown of Toronto.
“The timing just worked out [to come back for the Toronto series] and if I wasn’t ready and I ended up taking this time off five, six days later, I would’ve missed the series,” he said. “I just want to come back and perform well. I mean I’ve performed so poorly to start the season. It’s not something I’m comfortable with or used to. And coming back from being on a couch or in bed for eight or nine days, I need to make sure that I’m in a good way physically or else, I risk injury or I risk poor performance.”
Votto, who grew up in Toronto during the Blue Jays’ World Series winning seasons, was asked if there are any sites he’s looking forward to seeing in his hometown.
“Sites-wise the centre of the baseball and parts of the city that are somewhere around Windows [restaurant], maybe the second deck [of the Rogers Centre outfield],” joked Votto.
Now in his 16th major league season, Votto is approaching several all-time Canadian major league records. His 1,922 major league games are just 66 behind Maple Ridge, B.C. native Larry Walker’s record. The Reds slugger is also 134 hits shy of Walker’s record of 2,160.
Among the milestones Votto achieved in 2021 were recording his 2,000th major league hit and 300th home run.