Redsminorleagues.com

Friday, March 02, 2007

Spring Training Game 2 stats and a Joey Votto article on Reds.com

First off, the Reds just finished their second spring training game. Here are the Minor Leaguers stats.
Josh Hamilton - OF - 1 for 4 with an infield single
Paul Janish - SS - 0 for 1
Joey Votto - 1B - 2 for 2 with a double and a run scored
Jerry Gil - OF - 1 for 4

Mark Sheldon of Reds.com wrote a good article on 1B prospect Joey Votto. Here are some interesting parts from it.

Photo: Jerry Hale / Milb.com


Canadian Joey Votto's lumber of choice as a kid was usually a baseball bat, not a hockey stick.

Votto, the Reds first base prospect, always felt more comfortable on the diamond than on the ice around his native Toronto.

"I took a girl skating once, I fell all over the place and she laughed at me," Votto recalled. "That was actually my first date. She was laughing at me at the school the next day. When you're in the seventh grade and not skating so well, it gets around the school. It's a big thing."

Fortunately for the Reds, Votto hits much better than he skates -- which could have the 23-year-old poised to be Cincinnati's next big thing.

"There is no such thing as perfecting your game," Votto said. "But I try as hard as I can to do to get the fundamentals right, run the bases properly and listen to my managers and play defense. I want to clean up my game. There's always something to improve. It drives me crazy and it's frustrating some days when you think you have it and the next day, you don't. It's an ongoing struggle."

During morning fielding drills, the Reds' first base trio of Hatteberg, Conine and Votto dutifully take ground balls and often work through situations. Each practiced scooping short hops or making throws to second base. In the various drills, Votto looked just as comfortable as the more polished veterans.

Votto says he prefers to listen more and talk less when around Hatteberg and Conine, two of the more respected veterans in the game today. Hatteberg, 37, has liked what he has seen from Votto the past two springs.

"He's one of those guys with unlimited potential," Hatteberg said. "He has got huge power. It seems like he's doing a great job of having an idea at what he wants to do at the plate. He's not just a one-dimensional power guy. He wants to hit for average. Defensively, I'm learning from him, too. He's very smooth over there. He's got a lot of skills in all aspects."

It'd be realistic to think that another good year could have Votto in the Majors when September callups are promoted. Until his time comes, he plans on leaving his mark at big-league camp for as long as possible.

"I'm going to take advantage of the situation I'm in right now," Votto said. "I'm standing around Jeff Conine and Scott Hatteberg every single day listening to them and their stories and watching them go about their work. I have Ken Griffey Jr. in center field. Alex Gonzalez, one of the best defensive players in baseball, is at shortstop. I'd be a fool not to pay attention, watch and learn and add it to my own game. That's where I'm at here."

To read the entire article go to Reds.com or click here