Whenever he decides to hang up his spikes, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto will receive serious Hall of Fame consideration, and he is in the middle of a hot streak that is as good as any other in his career. Votto went into Saturday's game with the Mets (NYM 5, CIN 4 in 10 innings) hitting .311/.415/.652 in 46 games since returning from a thumb injury last month.
Furthermore, Votto had gone deep in each of the past seven games (nine homers total), and was looking to become only the fourth player in history to go deep in eight consecutive games. Votto didn't do it -- he went 1 for 5 with a strikeout Saturday -- but he came damn close. His eighth-inning single against Seth Lugo hit the orange line along the top of the wall in right field in Citi Field.
Here's the video. Votto was inches away from yet another home run.
According to Statcast that ball traveled 377 feet and would have been a home run in 10 other MLB ballparks, including Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Alas, the game was played in New York at Citi Field, so Votto settled for a long single.
Dale Long (May 19-28, 1956), Don Mattingly (July 8-18, 1987) and Ken Griffey Jr. (July 20-28, 1993) remain the only three players in history to go deep in eight consecutive games. Only eight players have ever hit a home run in seven straight games, and Votto is tied with Barry Bonds as the oldest to do it (age 37).
Going into Saturday's game Votto owned a .278/.374/.563 batting line with 21 home runs on the season. His production had waned in recent years -- Votto authored a good but not truly elite .265/.382/.420 line from 2018-20 -- which is understandable at his age, though he's bounced back in a huge way this season, and especially lately.
