There was some good and some bad in Joey Votto’s debut with the Toronto Blue Jays.
On Sunday afternoon, one of the greatest Canadian baseball players made his debut for his hometown team. If you recall, the Jays signed him to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training.
It didn’t take Votto long to make an immediate impact, as he went deep on the first pitch that he saw in a Blue Jays uniform. The pitch thrown by Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler was away, but Votto went out and got it, shooting it the opposite way.
Unfortunately, the bad is nothing that Votto could control, as he, in his own words, said “I accidentally stepped on a bat in the dugout, rolled my ankle and it hurt like the dickens”, according to MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.
Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a long-term injury or anything, as the club has listed him day-to-day and Matheson reported that he’ll be back after Monday’s off-day.
All in all, it was a good start to Votto’s Blue Jay tenure. There’s fierce competition for the role he’ll be in, a left-handed batting backup first baseman and designated hitter. Daniel Vogelbach is seen as the leader to land the role, as he has two home runs and two doubles while batting .214.
The Blue Jays also have Spencer Horwitz battling for the spot. Last season in Triple-A, the 26-year-old first baseman slashed .337/.450/.495 with 10 homers in 484 plate appearances, and hit a home run in one of his 44 plate appearances in the big leagues last season. Unfortunately, he’s slashing .138/.286/.172 with one extra base hit in 35 Spring Training plate appearances this season.
With all that being said, it’s hard not to root for Votto to play for his hometown team. He’s gone on record and said that he’ll start the season in the minor leagues to get back up to speed, so there’s a good chance we’ll see him in a regular season game. Today was a good first step to that happening, as long as the injury isn’t long-term.
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