Joey Votto is an incredible baseball fan and has been severly underrated throughout his career – but with the endless data sets available in today’s game, people are starting to notice some fascinating facts.
If there is one thing that sets Votto apart from many other hitters in the game is his discipline. Every year he threatens to walk more than he strikes out (He’s on pace to do it again this year, which would be the fourth time) and is on pace for a fourth straight year of an on-base percentage over .400. Those are some obvious stats but as fans realize how terrible pop outs are as a ball in play, they’re starting to appreciate Votto’s ability to avoid them.
In addition, there are stats that really explain why he’s able to peform like this as well. If you look at the only pitches he swings at out of the zone, they’re all around the strike zone.
