Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

Cincinnati Reds first baseman entered Sunday's loss to the Cubs ready to put a finishing touch on another typical Joey Votto season, beginning the day with a batting line of .326/.435/.553. He would have had to go 0 for 8 or worse in the season finale to hit below .400 in the second half.

It was certainly a season up to his lofty standards, but Votto is realistic about where that puts him among the best in the game.

“Personally, until (Mike) Trout came into the league, I thought every year that I would be in the conversation for best player in the game and he f-----d that up for everybody,” Votto said. “Babe Ruth and Ted Williams included. He's ruining it for everyone.”

Contending with the consensus best player in baseball aside, the 33-year-old first baseman is pleased with how he performed in 2016. He was incredibly frustrated at times, especially when he was hitting just .215 on June 1, but another torrid second half brought his numbers back to his career norms.

Votto entered Sunday hitting .411/.494/.674 in the second half. He considers that stretch better than the one he put together after the All-Star break in 2015, when he hit .362/.535/.617. He entered the final game of the season leading the National League in both OPS (.988) and on-base percentage (.435).

The stat he cares about most is games played, though. He’ll finish having appeared in 158 of 162 for the second year in a row. Beyond feeling an obligation to take the field for the fans come to watch him play, he needed the runway to pull out of his early season spiral.

“I didn’t doubt that I would come back from the start,” Votto said. “I was frustrated and I was in disbelief, but I knew that physically I felt good. My mind didn’t waver. I stayed put and I really wanted to come back from it. The only way I could have done that is if I played every day. I knew that was a really important part of the process. Had I gotten hurt or taken time off or played 130 or 140 games, I never would have finished off how I finished.”

Votto’s season wasn’t perfect, however. Despite his stellar offensive numbers, there’s little talk of any MVP candidacy because of poor performance in the field. Votto rated as the worst first baseman in baseball by the metric Defensive Runs Saved, and was second worst according Fangraphs metrics Ultimate Zone Rating and Defensive Efficiency.

It was by far the worst defensive season of his career. He had positive ratings in all those categories last season, when he finished third in NL MVP voting.

“You can't be in that conversation unless you do every aspect of the game and I love competing against the best and it's something I take a lot of pride in and it's something I think I fell a little bit short on this year,” Votto said. “Offensively, I felt like I was as competitive as I could compete with anybody in baseball but defensively, I feel like I've got a ways to go. And, it's exciting to have another challenge to overcome, so I'm grateful for that.”

The 2017 season will be the second in the Reds’ rebuilding effort, and another one where the Reds aren’t expected to be competing for a postseason berth. It’ll also be the fourth in Votto’s 10-year deal, with his salary increasing from $20 million to $22 million.

The Reds traded other pricey veterans both last offseason and at this year’s trade deadline, and received inquiries about Votto’s availability last year. But general manager Dick Williams told ESPN’s Buster Olney that it was very likely that Votto would remain a Red in 2017, and Votto has a full no-trade clause in his contract anyway.

Votto said the Reds are “heading in the right direction” and that he’s “excited about the future.” He also understands the logic of rebuilding, having seen the fruits of that labor pay off with the division foe Chicago Cubs.

“The Cubs, they waited it out and all of a sudden, they're the best ticket in baseball,” Votto said. “They're the best team to tune into. They're so much fun. But they did it in a lot of different ways and a combination of quality trades, some luck and benefiting from some good draft picks has them as the best team and a legitimate shot at winning the World Series and that's what we're playing for.”