Joey Votto (1B, CIN) - Week 17 Waiver Wire Pickups

3 years ago by Mike Marteny

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BALLER MOVE: Add in all leagues

ROSTERED IN: 32% of leagues

ANALYSIS: It's not often that we advise you to rush out and pick up a 37-year-old player off of waivers, but here we are. Yeah, his .262 average is still far below his .303 career batting average and his days of hitting 25 homers and driving in 100 runs are over, but there is reason for optimism and really no reason that he isn't owned in 68% of leagues.

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Everyone bailed on Votto after a disappointing April and a May that he missed all but four games of. It's time to go back and get Votto. He hit .293 with five homers and 17 RBI in the month of June. Hell, he even stole a base, his first in 18 months! His strong hitting has carried over into July as well. Votto is hitting .286 with month with two homers, eight RBI, and seven runs scored. He even netted his first triple since May 11, 2019 this month!

This isn't all just smoke and mirrors. His Statcast page shows that Votto is having perhaps his best season since 2015, the beginning of the Statcast era. His 13.3 barrel percentage is by far the best since Statcast came around and is in the 86th percentile of the entire major leagues. His hard hit percentage of 48.6% is in the 87th percentile. His average exit velocity and max exit velocity are in the 91st percentile and are his best in the Statcast era. What does this mean?

It means that Votto is finally healthy and seeing the ball well again. His chase rate of 21% is in the 88th percentile. His 11 homers, despite missing most of May, suggest that he could at least flirt with 25 homers this year. His xBA and xWOBA are far above where he currently sits, suggesting that those numbers will climb. The .311 BABIP lends credence to that since he has only been below .313 twice in his career, once being his miserable 2020 season. Votto is staring down a .280/20/90 season and few are paying attention. Don't let him pass you by as well.

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