Joy Votto (40, Cincinnati Reds), who is well-known to Korean fans as the best friend of Choo Shin-soo (41, SSG Landers), is hardly raising his senses.
Votto recently returned to the team after completing a rehab phase at Triple-A. He hasn’t joined the big league roster, but he’s been working out with the squad.
As a Cincinnati one-club man, Votto has a batting average of 0.297 (2093 hits in 7044 at-bats), 342 home runs, and 1106 RBIs in 1991 games, with an OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 0.925. He is one of the legends who won the National League MVP, Gold Glove, and 6 All-Star appearances. Shin-soo Choo continued his friendship while playing together in Cincinnati in 2013, and showed off their friendship by sharing the nickname ‘Rabbit’.스포츠토토
Even a legendary hitter couldn’t help it in the face of the passing years. Last year, he recorded a batting average of 0.205 (66 hits in 322 at-bats), 11 homers, 41 RBIs, and an OPS of 0.689, a career low. In particular, he could not complete the season and was out of the season early due to reconstruction surgery on the left shoulder rotator cuff and biceps in August.
Votto made a healthy comeback and joined the team from spring camp, but his sense of hitting is not rising. During the exhibition game, he recorded a batting average of 0.182 (4 hits in 22 at-bats) and an RBI OPS of 0.789. After starting the season in minor league triple-A, he had a batting average of 0.184 (7 hits in 38 at-bats), 1 home run, 5 RBIs, an OPS of 0.605, and 21 strikeouts in 10 games. He recorded and showed baseball that was not like Boto.
In an interview with ‘Red Leg Nation’, which reports news from Cincinnati on the 17th (Korean time), Votto talked about his current physical condition, saying, “I feel like I’m moving a little faster and getting stronger every day. I feel like I’ve gotten healthier, and I’m doing really well.” did.
Regarding the sense of impact that seems to fall behind, “The power and range of motion of the swing are not my trajectory. I didn’t do well in Triple A, and I missed the ball in the middle. It was because of my arm. I don’t think I’m ready yet. Stay healthy.” I will come back and do well. I’m sure I can.”
Ahead of this season, Votto also talked about his retirement due to his considerable age and declining skills. At the time, he said, “I really think I’ll do well. I’ll get good results in batting. If I can’t, I’ll retire.”
Votto signed a 10-year, $225 million (approximately 294.9 billion won) contract extension with the club in 2012. Excluding the one-year option, this season is the final year of his contract guarantee. Attention is focusing on whether he will be able to revive this year and continue his career as a player.