Reds place Joey Votto on injured list with shoulder discomfort, recall Nick Senzel

Something has clearly been up with Joey Votto.

He’d gone just 4 for 33 over his last 10 games played, with zero of said hits being homers. In fact, two of the last balls in play he produced were on check-swings that dinked balls down the 3B line, and I’m honestly having a hard time remembering the last time he truly squared a ball up.

So, when he was abruptly removed from the first game of yesterday’s doubleheader between the Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Angels, it raised an eyebrow. When he didn’t feature at all in the latter game, well, it became clearer that whatever was ‘up’ was probably about to be addressed.

That came to light this afternoon when the Cincinnati Reds placed Votto on the 10-day IL with soreness in his surgically repaired left shoulder, with Nick Senzel being recalled to take said roster spot.

The Reds just played their 128th game of the season, leaving 34 left on their schedule. Votto, I need not remind, is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, with only a team option for 2024 left between him and the end of his time as a Red. How this impacts the team’s decision remains to be seen, but what it certainly does confirm is that the time we’ll get to see Votto in the uniform has been lopped shorter in a hurry.

Here’s to hoping it’s merely pain in the shoulder, and not something that requires additional work to fix.

Get well soon, Joey.