27. Joey Votto
| Played as Red | Primary Position | Career Rank | Peak Rank | Prime Rank |
| 2007-2011 | 1B | 48 | 14 | 20 |
| Percent Breakdown of Value | Best Season | Best player on Reds | ||
| Hit | Field | Pitch | 2010 | 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 |
| 94% | 6% | 0% | ||
| Awards/Honors as a Red | Leading the League | On the Reds Leaderboard | ||
| Most Valuable Player – 2010 Hank Aaron Award – 2010 All Star – 2010, 2011 Gold Glove - 2011 |
OPS+ – 2010 OPS – 2010 On Base Percentage – 2010, 2011 Slugging Percentage – 2010 Doubles - 2011 Walks - 2011 |
-1st in career OPS+ |
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There’s a universe in which there is never any question that Votto will spend his entire career with the Reds, and he goes on to be a top-5 player in franchise history, and they name streets after him. We’re probably not in that universe, of course, having the misfortune of always picking the wrong damn universe to live in.
Nonetheless, Votto’s elite. He picked up some new hardware this year (the Reds have the Gold-Gloviest right side of the infield in all the land), and barely skipped a beat in his MVP remix season. He actually profiles rather well with Jeff Bagwell, who also had an MVP award and a Gold Glove and a career OPS+ in the 150 neighborhood through his age 27 season. Bagwell’s decline from there was long and slow, and accompanied by several trips to October. Would that the two indeed profile that close to one another.
Through 4+ seasons, Votto owns a batting line of 313/405/550 (151 OPS+), and jumps from #64 on the all-time list to #27. He also rises six spots on the list of best first basemen in team history, to #4.
The Top 15 First Basemen in Reds history
1 Tony Perez
2 Ted Kluszewski
3 Frank McCormick
4 Joey Votto*
5 Dan Driessen
6 Jake Beckley
7 Sean Casey
8 Lee May
9 Jake Daubert
10 Dick Hoblitzel
11 Hal Morris
12 Rube Bressler
13 Gordy Coleman
14 Deron Johnson
15 Hal Chase
*active