Joey Votto Out 3-4 Weeks

Cincinnati Reds first baseman and 2010 NL MVP tore cartilage in his left knee while sliding into third base on June 29 in San Francisco. The scheduled surgery, which takes between 20 and 30 minutes, will leave the NL Central leaders without their MVP candidate for three to four weeks.

The NL leader in doubles, walks, on-base percentage and extra-base hits is hitting .342 with 14 home runs and 49 RBIs. Todd Frazier, 26, started at first base Monday as Votto’s replacement. Frazier is hitting .278 with 10 home runs and 30 RBIs in 187 at-bats this season. Frazier filled in for third baseman Scott Rolen earlier this season.

The Reds are left without their engine for a month, but it could be worse. Votto will return around mid-August, leaving Cincinnati with their best player for the final 40something games.

The Reds could possibly call up infielder Henry Rodriguez, a Jose Altuve clone. The 22-year-old Rodriguez bats for a high average, .332 in the minors this year, like the similarly diminutive Houston Astros second baseman and also contributes speed on the base path.

The Reds currently stand 50-39 with a 1 game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates and a 3.5 game lead over St. Louis, who recently welcomed back slugging first baseman Lance Berkman.

The Reds thrive on pitching, they have only used five starting pitchers all season, but their bats were mediocre even with Votto in the fold. The Reds will have to weather the storm and do not look for them to make a major splash at the trade deadline.

The NL Central family photo will likely not feature Cincinnati at the helm when Votto returns, but as long as his teammates can tread water without him, expect Cincinnati to play more than 162 games this season.

The Big Guy

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good

Ryan Braun- The Brewers left fielder extended his hit streak to 6 games as he went 2-5 with 2 runs scored, a homer, and 3 RBIs in a 6-5 victory vs. the Padres. Braun 11 hits over his last 10 games and is now hitting .311 on the season.

Logan Morrison- The Marlins left fielder went 3-4 with 2 doubles and and RBI despite the 2-4 loss vs the Rays. This is just Morrison’s 2nd multi hit game in the last ten games.

Andrew McCutchen- The Pirates center fielder was all the offense the Pirates needed Sunday against the Kansas City Royals. In a 3-2 victory McCutchen went 2-3 with a double and all 3 of the Pirates RBIs. McCutchen is now hitting .325 on the season for the Pirates.

Jose Altuve- The Astros 2nd baseman went 2-5 with a homer and 3 RBIs in the Astros 11-9 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Altuve is now hitting .326 on the season for the Astros.

Ryan Dempster- The Cubs starting pitcher got just jis 2nd victory on the year despite having a 2.31 ERA on the season. Dempster went 8 innings giving up no runs off just 4 hits while striking out 6. Dempster has a 0.51 ERA over his last 3 starts.

The Bad

Jason Motte- In Sunday’s loss to the Indians, Motte went just 1 innings giving up 2 hits, a walk, and a 3-run homer for a final score of 4-1. Mottes ERA is now 3.71 on the season.

Christian Friedrich- The Rockies starting pitcher went just 4 innings while giving up 9 runs off 10 hits. Friedrich’s ERA raised nearly 1.5 points from 4.50 to 5.85 on the season. This was Friedrich’s shortest outing on the season.

Michael Morse- Morse played the role of DH in Sunday’s victory vs. the Red Sox, but no thanks to Morse as he went 0-4 with 3 strikeouts. Morse is now hitting .188 on the season.

The Ugly

San Francisco Giants- Sunday’s game vs, the Texas Rangers was ugly in every aspect from the Giants dugout. The starting pitcher Tim Lincecum went just 5.2 innings while giving up 5 runs off 9 hits and 4 walks. Lincecum’s ERA is now a stagering 6.00 on the season. The Giants offense was in no shape to help Lincecum as they were 3 hit and no one had more then 1 hit on the day.

Miami Marlins- The Marlins have now lost 6 games in a row scoring just 9 runs and giving up 43 runs during this span.

Coach Tom