Photo: Doug Gray
On Thursday night, the Cincinnati Reds won both games of their double header in Milwaukee against the Brewers. Notably absent from both games was Cincinnati first baseman Joey Votto. While Votto has struggled much of the season, which in the grand scheme of things is not much time, much of the crime has struggled of late. But for David Bell, it was Votto who got the day full.
“We talk and at some point in the next few days he will be there again and come back in the lineup and contribute. He’s part of our best team, he’s part of our best lineup. It’s daily as far as the decisions we make, “Bell said.” But I wanted to give him a few games to just get good. I know he has to play to get it right, but I just thought it was good. to give it a few days and get him back in the lineup. ”
The first four games of the year saw Joey Votto crush the ball. He came home in each of the first two games of the year and has hit .389 / .450 / .722 through his first 20 record appearances. Since then, however, it has been quite a thing for Votto. He has since played 21 points in 21 games and hit just .141 / .291 / .225. He had gone five consecutive games without a hit, and Tuesday night he went 0-4 and struck out every four times he stepped to the plate. It was only the second time in the last decade that he hit four times in a game, and just the fifth time in his entire career.
“He’s physically fine,” Bell said Thursday after the double-header. ‘I just felt I had to trust what I saw. He plays every day, he is used to playing every day. I just felt like this time I trusted what I saw and that was to give him a few free days to live in again and then get him back in the lineup. ”
The Reds did not play Wednesday. And Joey Votto did not play on Thursday – that he has been two days in a row. Manager David Bell was not very specific about how long “a few days off” was. However, he has noticed that he is becoming a daily decision maker. It does not seem likely that Votto will be out for long, but it may also be more than just one day to not play games either.
