Joey Votto rests for the second time in four games
Reds first baseman Joey Votto was out of the starting lineup Sunday against the Brewers for the second time in four games. However, it was not injury related and it was manager Bryan Price's call to give the veteran first baseman a day off, per the Cincinnati Enquirer.
"For Joey, it’s just a day off," Price said, per MLB.com. "We’re trying to be contentious of the fact that he is playing at well below 100 percent right now and trying to keep him as healthy as we can under the circumstances, which is challenging. He’s got some challenges, physically. I just thought it was a good idea to give him a day off today."
Votto is batting .250 with zero home runs and 11 RBI in 23 games since coming off the disabled list June 10.
"We knew the process when we initially put Joey on the disabled list that when we got him back, we weren’t going to be able to get him to 100 percent over the course of the regular season," Price said. "We decided to do some strengthening exercises and really work on getting the inflammation and a lot of the soreness out of there. We accomplished that to a certain degree. We knew we couldn’t get to 100 percent. Some days are better than others. This was my decision today not to play though I stay in contact with Joey on how he’s feeling. He didn’t ask to come out. I just thought it was a good day to give him a breather and reassess and get ready for tomorrow."
