Reds' Votto to miss Cactus League opener
Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto won't take the field for his club's Cactus League opener Tuesday as manager Bryan Price said the 31-year-old isn't quite up to "game speed" yet.
Votto missed the last two months of the 2014 campaign with a quadriceps strain, appearing in only 62 games before landing on the disabled list in July. Though Votto has been a limited participant in defensive drills thus far, the four-time All-Star provided an encouraging update after his team's workout Monday in Goodyear, Ariz.
"I feel really, really good. I'm surprised at how good I feel this early," Votto told C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer. "I feel like I'm trending toward being able to play games here in the not too distant future. I do feel like I need a little more time, but the time is not a by-product of avoiding games or not being ready when I need to be ready. It's just to make sure that after taking eight months, 10 months, however long off of baseball, I have to play the game a little bit more to get ready to get the volume in and get the reps it."
Price doesn't expect Votto to miss a significant amount of time, though he has yet to decide when the former MVP will make his spring debut.
Votto, a second-round pick in the 2002 draft, hit .255/.390/.409 (127 OPS+) with six home runs and 16 doubles over 62 games last season.