CINCINNATI — If numbers ever lie, and numbers are habitually untruthful, that .188 next to Joey Votto’s name was a bald-faced, dirty, rotten lie.
Everybody in baseball knows that the Cincinnati Reds first baseman and 2010 National League MVP is not a .188 hitter.
Well, he was for the first five games of the 2012 season, entering a Wednesday game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
When the smoke had cleared from the fireworks they shoot off in Great American Ball Park after every Reds win, the numbers next to Votto’s name were .333. And that’s the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Votto had four hits, the 10th time in his career he has punched, plowed and punctured four hits in a game.
And his leadoff double in the bottom of the ninth against left-hander Mark Rzepczynski torched the rally that ended the game, a walk-off single by pinch-hitter Chris Heisey, scoring Votto for a 4-3 victory.
“You know Joey is going to hit,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “You’re just so used to seeing Joey hit all the time that you get spoiled by him hitting. When he doesn’t hit, you wonder what’s wrong.”
Before Wednesday, Votto was 3 for 16 with one homer and three RBI, very un-Votto-like.
Once the hits began, they spilled out of his bat like olives out of a jar once the first is dislodged.
Before the game, Baker talked about how pitchers approach Votto, if there is any method to their madness.
As expected, Votto is getting extra-special attention from pitchers and it has nothing to do with a $225 million contract extension. They aren’t asking him for loans.
As Baker says, “I notice they are pitching him differently this year than they did last year. And they pitched him differently last year than they did the year before.”
And why is that? “You have MVP behind your name, they are going to pitch you differently,” Baker added. “They spend more time on you in the meetings and they are going to spend more time on you in the video room. Yeah, sometimes they ran from him and sometimes they run at him.
“I noticed differences this year and he notices it, too. It is just a matter of combating it. He’ll figure it out.”
St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia obviously didn’t get the Joey Votto Memo — or Votto made the adjustments. Votto had three straight hits off Garcia.
Votto said the approach he notices is that pitchers are aggressive, coming right after him.
“They’ve been very aggressive, and I’ve seen a lot of pitches to hit,” he said. “It’s my responsibility to put together days like this and attack back. They attack me, I have to attack back.
“Last year, I went through periods where I thought pitchers were a little more passive in their approach toward me, not giving me pitches to hit,” he said. “Then there were periods where they were more aggressive.
“So I told myself at the end of the year, in the offseason, ‘I’m not going to let that happen again.’ If I get the opportunity, if they are aggressive, I’m going to take advantage of that. That’s my responsibility as a hitter.”
Even though it was only five games, 16 at-bats, when there is a .188 next to the name of a superstar, a superstud, fans wrinkle their brows and ask, “What’s going on here?”
Votto did nothing but do his work and wait for the rewards.
“I don’t every day come to the ballpark imagining I’ll have four hits,” he said. “I just expect to play well. I expend most of my time and energy trying to stay focused and intense as I can and not give away any at-bats.
“I spend a lot of time and energy in the cages working on my craft,” he said. “I just try not to get ahead of myself.”
As far as the fans and his manager were concerned, Votto was behind himself in those first five games. And now? He is Joey Votto, .333. And that’s the way it should be.
