Joey Votto Reveals Unique Analytics Strategy That Helped Define His Prime With Reds

24 years ago on Thursday, the Cincinnati Reds drafted catcher Joey Votto in the second round of the MLB Draft. He shared a story on MLB Now on MLB Network about how he was one of the first players to heavily use analytics and created his own form.

The Ultimate Student of the Game

Votto was known as a true student of the game and has a true respect for the history of the game of baseball. His favorite player was Ted Williams. He studied Williams' book, "The Science of Hitting," religiously while in the Minor Leagues. While on MLB Now, Sean Casey asked Votto about how he prepared to face certain pitchers and if analytics were important to him.

"In my prime years, '15, '16, '17, I hired someone from one of those analytics sites." Votto said. "We built a relationship. And before umpire maps and strike zone maps, and before Stuff+, I created my own."

Votto used the overlays to build a map of the strike zone for each catcher and umpire matchup for every game. Between those years, he mentioned, Votto slashed .320/.449/.557 with 94 home runs, 101 doubles, and had an OPS+ of 167.

"I knew everything about the framing system," Votto said. "The caliber of each catcher. And I would overlay the two on top of one another to establish that night's strike zone based on left-handed pitching, right-handed pitching, the catcher, of course, and the umpire. In future years, we started building out like a Stuff+ version thing for each and every game. And as far as preparation...I wasn't physically relative to a lot of the guys in the league, but I was able to execute in terms of decision-making. And so, that was probably a three-to-six-year run where I was using that."

His Place In Reds History

Votto played the entirety of his career with the Cincinnati Reds. He had a career Wins Above Replacement of 63.6. He slashed .294/.409/.511 with 356 home runs, 1,144 RBI, 459 doubles, and 2,135 hits. He ranks second in Reds history in OPS (.920), second in home runs, third in RBI, fourth in runs scored, fifth in hits, second in doubles, sixth in games played (2,056), sixth in at-bats (7,252), first in walks (1,365), and sixth in slugging percentage.

Votto signed the largest contract in the Reds' franchise history on April 4, 2012. He signed a three-year contract in 2011 to avoid arbitration, but the Reds wanted to sign him long-term after he went on to win the 2010 National League MVP Award.

"We recognize the historical significance of this signing. Ownership has committed to Joey, and we anticipate that he will continue to be one of the best players in baseball for the next decade or so," Reds Former President of Baseball Operations Walt Jocketty said. "He wants to stay here, and we want him here. We have shown we are committed to building a solid foundation from within the organization."

Votto will be covering games for NBC for pregame coverage on their network starting in the 2026 season alongside Anthony Rizzo and Clayton Kershaw. He will be eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2029. That class will feature Zack Greinke, Miguel Cabrera, Adam Wainwright, Madison Bumgarner, and many more as first-time candidates.

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