The critics can pipe down. The doubters can shove it. Joseph Daniel Votto is back.
There's no question that Votto has regained his MVP form and it's a beautiful thing to behold. He's currently playing at an otherworldly level since the All-Star break.
In 59 plate appearances since the break, Votto has reached base 37 times (15 singles, four doubles, four home runs). Over that span, Votto has a K/BB ratio of 4:14. These numbers are just stupid good, which include some of this magic ...
It's clear Votto has regained his pre-knee injury levels of 2012. Prior to his knee injury that season, the first basemen established himself as one of the premier hitters in the game. After undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery in July 2012, Votto struggled in the power department coming off the injury.
2010 - .324/.424/.600, 37 home runs, 113 RBIs, 172 wRC+ (150 games)
2011 - .309/.416/.531, 29 home runs, 103 RBIs, 157 wRC+ (161 games)
2012 - .337/.474/.567, 14 home runs, 56 RBIs, 178 w RC+ (111 games)
2013 - .305/.435/.491, 24 home runs, 73 RBIs, 156 wRC+ (162 games)
2014 - .255/.390/.409, 6 home runs, 23 RBIs, 128 wRC+ (62 games)
Votto has always been elite when it comes to getting on base, but his ability to drive the ball into the gaps seemed to sap even more as he dealt with a quadricep strain in 2014. Those days are hopefully long gone as evidenced by Votto's bounce back 2015.
2015 - .308/.427/.534, 19 home runs, 51 RBIs, 166 w RC+ (98 games)
His numbers this season prove his power has returned as his slugging percentage has risen above the .500 mark for the first time since before the 2012 injury and his wRC+ has bounced back considerably from the quad injury.
It's a beautiful thing to watch Votto work every day as he's a true master of his craft. The fact that he's re-establishing himself as a force should make RedsNation mighty happy as they look to rebuild around the former MVP.
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