C. Trent Rosecrans

crosecrans@enquirer.com

SAN DIEGO -- The knee, Joey Votto said on Monday, is not an excuse for his performance.

Despite some awkward swings and apparent limps in Sunday's win over the Giants, Votto said that if he is healthy enough to play, he's healthy enough to shoulder criticism of his performance.

Since returning from the disabled list on June 10, Votto is hitting .265 with a .378 on-base percentage and a .368 slugging percentage and has yet to hit a home run. Votto had a hit in each of his first nine games, hitting .333/.405/.444 over that stretch, but in the last nine entering Monday's game in San Diego, Votto was hitting just .188/.350/.281.

"You should expect the very best from me if I'm out there," Votto said before Monday's game. "If I'm out there and I choose to be out there, (fans) have every right to boo or be disappointed or expect more from me. If you're on the DL, you're not playing. If you're on the field, you're playing. I can't say anything more than that. The expectation for me should be to play at or near my best all the time. If I'm out on the field not performing well, it's because I'm not performing well, not because I'm not healthy."

Votto said if he's on the field, he considers himself 100 percent healthy.

His manager, Bryan Price, sees what many others see – Votto's not the same. Price said he's concerned by Votto's recent performance, knowing the left distal quadriceps strain that put him on the DL would be an issue for the rest of the season, and will be an ongoing issue until the offseason.

"I think it's a concern. We knew he wasn't going to be 100 percent when he came back," Price said. "He's doing the best he can with what he has to work with. We really do go day-by-day with him. He has expressed that he wants to play and he'll compete with everything he's got on any given day. I'm certain he's out there committed to do everything he can to help us win games. He certainly does not want to be out of the lineup. We certainly see he's not at 100 percent strength."

Votto's still a valuable piece of the lineup, and since his return, the Reds have gone 14-5, hitting .278 as a team and scoring 5.7 runs per game, versus hitting .237 and scoring 3.5 runs per game in the first 62 games of the season. Price thinks Votto's return is part of the recent run of success.

"If he's on base at .370 with guys like (Devin) Mesoraco and (Jay) Bruce starting to warm up a bit and (Ryan Ludwick) swinging the bat well, especially in June and parts of May, Brandon (Phillips) … I just think that we're getting more productivity with the guys behind him and we're not expecting him to hit the home runs," Price said. "We're just expecting him to be a piece of what we do here. Our good fortune is we don't have to stick Joey in the three or four spot and expect him to do all the damage. He can be a piece of the offense instead of the main part of it. It's kind of our goal moving forward.

"The other thing is we're hopeful we'll see him get hot and start to do some of the things he's capable of. I know he's limited. We all know that he has limitations. I think he's competing with what he has to work with. Right now, it's working as an important piece of our offense."

Votto, who played in 162 games last year, has already had one day off since returning, and Price has said he'll keep an eye on Votto and see just how much rest he needs.

And then there's the possibility of another trip to the disabled list.

"There would be if we had a situation where he regressed to where he was before. We haven't gotten to that point in time. I don't even want to suggest that we're close to that," Price said. "We're just trying to keep tabs on it and see where it goes and stay optimistic that the knee will hold up and he'll be able to give us what he's got to give us every day he's in the lineup. I don't know what to say moving forward what to anticipate. I really don't know."

From Votto's perspective, if he's on the roster, he expects to play, and if he plays, he expects to produce – and everyone else should, as well.

"As long as I'm playing, I'm 100 percent," Votto said. "If I choose to go on the DL, I'm on the DL. If I choose to play, I'm 100 percent."