Bram's Blog: The Return of the King: Baseball's Best Hitter Returns to Cincinnati

And There Was Much Rejoicing

by Ryan Bramwell

Do you remember the day we all learned of the Votto injury? It was July 15th, and it was just plain awful news. The Reds had a mere one-game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates and had not been playing their best ball of late. An arthroscopic surgery took place on July 17th to repair the torn meniscus cartilage in Votto's left knee. His expected return to action was 3-4 weeks and all was bleak in Reds country.

Yet the Reds managed to go on without their potent three-hole hitter and confident first-baseman. They reeled off win-after-win as they began to build a lead in the Central. Then we learned that Votto had reinjured the knee while performing a sliding drill in his rehabilitation stint and another surgery was scheduled. On August 10th, Votto underwent his second surgery in just a few weeks and the team would have to continue to play without the game's greatest batter. And they did so in tremendous fashion. As we have discussed here on this very blog, the Reds players seemingly found themselves, their roles, and their abilities during their time without Votto on the field.

We saw some truly amazing baseball during the absence of Joseph Daniel Votto. Brandon Phillips moved to three-hole and has since brought his batting average up to .300 as he has proven himself to be the best second baseman in the National League both offensively and defensively. Ryan Ludwick had a miraculous July and August as he has shown Cincinnati fans that Jocketty and company were geniuses when they picked him up in the winter. Ludwick will most certainly be the Comeback Player of the Year and be resigned by Cincinnati in the offseason. Then there is Todd Frazier. What can I say? I've made it readily apparent that Todd has been my favorite Red outside of Votto. He is a wonderful baseball player and a tremendous clubhouse guy. Only Ryan Ludwick had better luck at the plate than Frazier during the Vottopocalypse. Frazier saw time mainly at first base and third base, and he played them like a gold-glover. He was a vacuum and made a point to the brass and to Dusty Baker with his defense and confidence to play a variety of positions when called upon. Todd Frazier will be the National League's Rookie of the Year for 2012 (he also just won the Rookie of the Month award). Scott Rolen finally got himself going during this period as well as he batted .321 in July and .323 in August. His OBP during those months was an incredible .413 and .425. The play of Chris Heisey and Ryan Hanigan should not be overshadowed either. It was a real, true team effort in every sense of the phrase.

Tomorrow marks the first day we will see Joey Votto on the field in eight weeks. The Reds went 33-16 during his absence and even cruised to the best record in baseball overall at one point. The Reds went through the trade deadline without making much noise, much to the dismay of a lot of fans. But they did snag closer Jonathan Broxton as their only move. And in hindsight, it was probably the best thing the organization could have done. They bolstered an already dominant bullpen and grasped the nickname the "New Nasty Boys" with the addition of Broxton to go alongside Marshall and Chapman. With all the winning, the unveiling of Ludwick/Frazier, spectacular starting pitching, dominant relief pitching, and overall excellence we nearly forgot that the best Redleg of them all had been sidelined since mid-July.

Ladies and gentlemen, Joseph Daniel Votto is back. The number three spot in the lineup is now filled so tightly that even using the phrase "tighter than O.J.'s gloves" would be an understatement. And with that, there is a domino effect that allows the Reds lineup to blossom into it's absolute full potential. The top-of-the-order is no longer a nagging issue, as Brandon Phillips and his .300 average will take over the top spot. The number two spot is a question still, but it is guaranteed that whoever bats in front of Joey will see some hittable pitches. So that alone takes care of batters 1-2-3. Then there are hitters 4-5-6, the middle of the lineup. Ryan Ludwick, Jay Bruce and Todd Frazier. I think that'll suffice in any arrangement, don't you? And when you have a guy with an OBP of .465 hitting in front of that kind of middle-of-the-order...well, you can smell those RBI's already can't you? Then there's a wide variety of options at the bottom: Hanigan (terrific OBP-guy, himself), Stubbs, Heisey, Cozart, etc, etc.

Remembering what we are getting back:

No trade-deadline addition or waiver pick-up of any caliber by any team this season will match the importance, the production, or the enthusiasm of what the Reds obtain when Joey Votto returns to the lineup. Joey Votto has been the best offensive player in baseball over the past two and half seasons according to many sources and statistics. The Reds have seen a significant boost in play from everyone during his departure as noted earlier, and now they add a true great into the mix to bolster an offense that needed that one extra weapon. And if Votto were a weapon he would be a nuclear bomb.

BA .344, HR 14, 49 RBI, .465 OBP, 1.065 OPS