Reds first baseman Joey Votto was hit in the hand with a pitch in Wednesday's 1-0 win over the White Sox. He was forced to leave the game with what the Reds said at the time was a left thumb injury. It turns out, that injury is a fracture and Votto will miss "around a month," per Reds manager David Bell.
Votto, 37, is hitting .226/.305/.425 with six doubles, five homers and 17 RBI this season. He got off to a very slow start, but he had a .351 on-base percentage and .574 slugging in his last 19 games before Wednesday. In that stretch, he had six doubles, five homers and 14 RBI. His new aggressive approach -- which has yielded the lowest walk rate and highest strikeout rate of his career -- was really starting to pay dividends in the power department.
Now that the minor leagues have ramped up again, once Votto is healed he'll be able to go on a rehab assignment, should he and the team choose that route.
Votto has started all but one game at first base this season for the Reds. Kyle Farmer took over at first for Votto on Wednesday. Alex Blandino made the start at first in the previous game Votto missed. Mike Moustakas could also handle first base duties if needed, which would probably put Jonathan India at third and Nick Senzel at second in a bit of musical chairs.
The Reds are now 14-15 this season. They are about a week and a half removed from a seven-game losing streak, but they've won five of eight since then. They seem to have a bit of a soft spot coming up on the schedule. After a three-game series in Cleveland this coming weekend, they have three games against the Pirates and then four against the Rockies.
