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Joey Votto loves the MLB rule changes: Reds star talks baseball’s future and his own

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There are players in this world who are wary of baseball’s edgy new rule changes.

There are players in this world who are curious about baseball’s edgy new rule changes.

There are players in this world who are flat out teed off about baseball’s edgy new rule changes.

And then there’s Joey Votto.

“I do think we’re about to approach a really fun version of our sport,” the Reds’ ever-thoughtful first-base philosopher king said at one point during his visit with Doug Glanville and me on the latest Starkville edition of “The Athletic Baseball Show” podcast.

“I love that there’s going to be a pitch clock,” he said at another point.

“I love the (larger) base,” he said at yet another point. “I love that they’re changing the base. … Anything to make the game more athletic.”

Joey Votto, man. Can we just put him in charge of, well, everything?

For nearly an hour, Doug and I were part of a conversation pretty much unlike anything we’ve ever had with any baseball player ever. And I don’t say stuff like that off the top of my head.

We got to hear Votto’s insightful takes on:

• How his torn bicep has made him reflect on how one major injury can have an impact on “all of your life” — and his future in the game.

• How Albert Pujols’ grand finale has made him think, “If Albert can do it, why can’t you do it?”

• Why all those players staring at their iPads in the dugout these days are making the big mistake of disconnecting from “the rhythm of the game” — complete with a comparison to going to a dance club!

And there was so much more. I highly recommend you check out the entire conversation. It’s something.

But hey, it’s those rule changes that are the talk of baseball these days. So here come some important excerpts from this show, in which Votto reminds us, with every thought he expresses, that nobody’s brain in baseball spins quite like his.

(Answers have been edited for clarity and length.)

Votto on how the shift turned into his ‘trick mirror’

Statcast tells us that Votto was shifted on in 86 percent of his plate appearances this season. So you’d think he would be one of the many left-handed hitters celebrating the new rule that will pull the plug on the shift after this season, right?

Haha. Wrong. This is Joey Votto we’re dealing with. So of coursewhen I asked him about this, the answer wasn’t what I expected.

Earlier this season, he said, he was locked in on the idea that pulling the ball hard in the air was his path to a big year. That isn’t how it worked out at all. He battled shoulder pain all year and hit just .205, with a .689 OPS. So now, he revealed, he has flipped on that game plan.

“I’m realizing that to be successful as a hitter, I have to hit the ball the other way. I’m learning that through failure. Earlier in the season, I was trying to pull the ball a lot. I switched my bat. I started using an odd bat that a lot of the hitters are using these days. I tried to practice all my work down the right-field line.

“I was basically going for 50 home runs, because I was, like, ‘All right, I hit 36 ​​last year in 129 games. Well, if I just pull a few more left-handed pitchers, if I time the left-handed fastball and I just pull them, I should get to 50. This is going to be easy.’ But actually it’s like a trick mirror.”

So next year, he said, we’ll see him focus on driving the ball the other way again, much like David Ortiz did after changing his approach late in his career. (Not surprisingly, Votto revealed he has been reading all about that.)

“Anyways, long story short, I think the shift is a genuine challenge for certain hitters’ styles. But, you know, it’s the sort of thing where we get rewarded based on relative competition. They use the Wins Over Replacement statistic. (So) we’re competing using weighted measurements. So it really doesn’t matter if I get a few more hits because everybody else will get a few more hits.

“So it’s like, does the shift matter? No, it doesn’t matter at all. Because to me, it’s my responsibility to counter it because all my competition, my peers, the people I’m competing against for contracts or future jobs — they have to counter it, too. So it doesn’t matter. Actually, it made me a better hitter, to be honest with you.”

How Votto plans to crush the pitch clock

Statcast also tells us that Votto took 18.6 seconds between pitches with no one on base this season. So maybe you’re thinking a 15-second pitch clock might be a problem for him.

Haha. Once again, don’t forget this is Joey Votto. So when I started to pose that premise, he didn’t let me even get through the question.

“I promise you I only take what’s given to me. If you set a 10-second clock… it doesn’t affect me at all. I will stand there. I can stand in the box and hit, full swing, and then get back in the box. I don’t need the time, is all I’m saying.”

He then let me finish my thought. So I went global on him, asking how hard it would be for hitters around the game to deal with a clock. But once again, this was a man whose mind had already moved on to how easy this would be — and the big picture, the only picture that matters.

“I think (some players) in the short term, some in the long term, it’ll become second nature. So that’s really all that matters. You have to improve the pace of the game.”

He then told a story about why he understands the true meaning of improving that pace. He used to be a Toronto Raptors season-ticket holder, he said. And when he went to those basketball games, he knew at 7:30 pm, as those games were just starting, that the game would be over at 10 pm So he already knew – at 7:30 – what train he could take home after the game.

But as you (and he) have also noticed, not in baseball — where “you don’t know if our games are going to end at 9:45 or 11:45.” On one hand, he said, “there’s some charm to that.” Just not every night.

“We’re here to serve our fans. We, as players, are here to serve. I do get that you have to respect the player and his process. You know, players need a tempo, but tempos can be adjusted. We (have the ability to) make this adjustment and still perform well. And so I love it. I love that there’s going to be a pitch clock. …

“I think it’s wonderful. I wish that it had been instituted throughout my career, to be honest with you, because I feel like I’ve played an additional 50 games, with how long these games have been.”

On how larger bases will change the game

Usually on Starkville, Glanville and I are the ones who ask the questions and steer the conversation. But when it’s Joey Votto on the other end of that conversation, of course, he’s way ahead of us. So of coursehe brought up the new 18-inch-by-18-inch bases (up from 15-by-15) before we even had a chance to ask.

“I love that they’re changing the base. And we haven’t touched on that. But anything to make the game more athletic. Seeing guys attempt stolen bases, or attempt first-to-thirds, I love it. Because I think that those few inches, all of a sudden, you’re choosing the faster guy as opposed to the home-run guy, (that) sort of thing. And so I love the (larger) base. I’ve used the base on a rehab (assignment). And I think it’s fun. I think they may have instituted it for safety reasons. But I think it may make the game faster.”

Votto sees a better style of baseball to come

It shouldn’t shock us that a guy who’s the king of pitch recognition should also be the king of recognizing the future of baseball. And what Votto sees, as he peers into the future, is a style of baseball that could be way more fun than what we’re watching.

Behind those rule changes, he sees hope for this sport to show off more athleticism. And if that’s the idea, he’s all in.

But he also knows he has been in the middle of the debate about what the game has become. The walks! The homers! The strikeouts! The emphasis on process over action. And who knows, he’s thought about that a lot.

“I was guilty of it for a while. I mean, most of my career involves getting on base, and I had a lot of detractors. And I think with some distance, I get it. But not to make this question about me — but I’ll answer from my own experience.

“I did it because home runs and hits are really hard to get. And so my best version was kind of a hybrid: getting on base, getting some hits, making the best of every at-bat. So that worked for me. I think that (what happened was that that became) a league-wide trend. … I don’t want to generalize, but the zeitgeist was: Take pitches, and walks and strikeouts come with it, and homers.”

Yes, you just heard a baseball player use the word, “zeitgeist.” But we digress. Back to our program, where Votto then contrasted that trend with the evolution of basketball in his lifetime.

“I’m a basketball fan. And I’ve been a basketball player since I was like 8 to 9 years old. I love the sport. My first love. It’s the first thing I want to do once I’m done playing, is start playing basketball again. … And I remember practicing with my team as a high school player. If you took a three (when your team needed a layup), it was: immediate bench.

“And… when I first started playing baseball, it was: Why are you taking so many pitches? Why are you taking that fringe pitch on the edge? Take a swing. Put the ball in play. Don’t strike out looking. And I don’t think it’s either answer. But I do think we’re about to approach a really fun version of our sport, where it’s more athletic, where there’s more balls in play, where we get to see the athleticism of the infielders and outfielders.

“I think we have a great sport. And I think we’re about to showcase it at its very best, because it’s probably as athletic as it’s ever been. But when Ronald Acuña (Jr.) is in right field, and the third baseman is standing right in front of him, instead of seeing a diving play from (Acuña), it’s a one-hopper to the third baseman, who throws out Freddie Freeman on a 112 (mph) rocket. And the fans are like, ‘Ugh,’ instead of some awesome play from Acuña.”

Votto on his future, getting ‘slowed out’ of baseball

So if Votto loves these changes, if he loves how they’ll promote athleticism, if he loves how those larger bases could encourage more base-swiping, how could we not ask: How will this affect him?

I thought it would be fun to suggest that between the larger bases and the new rule limiting pickoffs/stepoffs by pitchers, he could steal 40 bases. Pocket, of course, Votto swatted down that idea like Pascal Siakam swatting down a lazy layup by a 6-foot-2 point guard.

“You know, little changes like this are the reason why I’ve got maybe two, three years left. I’m gonna get slowed out of the game. So I’m happy to hand it off to the next group.”

But those are just the rule-change highlights of our conversation. So check out the whole Starkville episode, available everywhere you get your podcasts.

Also see:

• Players and managers on MLB’s rule changes

• The Future of Baseball series

(Photo: Jeff Dean/Associated Press)

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