Cincinnati Reds' Joey Votto to travel to Milwaukee and Chicago – MLB News
The Cincinnati Reds' manager Dusty Baker said on Sunday, August 5 that the All-Star first baseman Joey Votto will travel with the team to Milwaukee and Chicago.
Votto has yet to completely recover from the surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.
The team manager on Sunday also said that Votto is progressing, but did not give any hint as to when the All-Star shall return. Baker believes that the real test for Votto will be working out on the field.
"He's progressing. He's going to go on the road trip with us," Baker said. "He's hitting, he's fielding some right on the bag, he's throwing. The real test is going to be running, cutting and sliding. He's not quite at that point yet. But he's on the way."
Be that as it may, Votto’s going for throwing, catching, hitting and light jogging is a good sign for the Reds that await his early return in the team. Sunday was, however, a day off for the All-Star first baseman.
"I gave him off [Sunday]," Baker said. "He's been working around the clock trying to get ready. Sometimes you can overwork a guy. Let your body rest. I told him don't come in today, because if he's here, he's going to work. He's probably working where he is anyway."
A lot has happened in the absence of Joey Votto lately. When he was sent to the disabled list, the team would probably have anticipated bigger challenges for the offence since Votto was out. But the Reds did outstandingly well all this while, winning 16 of the 19 games while Votto was out.
In his absence, Brandon Phillips had performed amazingly well, giving the club the edge they required to sit atop the National League Central ranking. However, despite all the positives in the recent past, the Reds will definitely want the influential and prolific Votto on the field.
Whenever he makes his way back into the team, Votto will once again attract enormous attention, and he certainly knows how to reinforce and bolster the offence whenever and wherever it is required.
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