Joey Votto (1B, CIN) - Week 18 Waiver Wire Pickups

BALLER MOVE: Add in all leagues

ROSTERED IN: 46% of leagues

ANALYSIS: It's not often that we advise you to rush out and pick up a 37-year-old player off of waivers, but here we are. Yeah, his .268 average is still far below his .303 career batting average and his days of hitting 25 homers and driving in 100 runs are over, but there is reason for optimism and really no reason that he isn't owned in 54% of leagues.

Everyone bailed on Votto after a disappointing April and a May that he missed all but four games of. It's time to go back and get Votto. He hit .293 with five homers and 17 RBI in the month of June. Hell, he even stole a base, his first in 18 months! His strong hitting has carried over into July as well. Votto is hitting .301 this month with another five homers and 17 RBI, along with 11 runs scored. He even netted his first triple since May 11, 2019 this month!

This isn't all just smoke and mirrors. His Statcast page shows that Votto is having perhaps his best season since 2015, the beginning of the Statcast era. His 14.1 barrel percentage is by far the best since Statcast came around and is in the 89th percentile of the entire major leagues. His hard hit percentage of 49.2% is in the 87th percentile. His average exit velocity and max exit velocity are in the 91st percentile and are his best in the Statcast era. What does this mean?

It means that Votto is finally healthy and seeing the ball well again. His chase rate of 20.9% is in the 89th percentile. His 15 homers, despite missing most of May, suggest that he could at least flirt with 25 homers this year. His xWOBA is far above where he currently sits, suggesting that his average could continue to climb. The .312 BABIP lends credence to that since he has only been below .313 twice in his career, once being his miserable 2020 season. Votto is staring down a .280/25/90 season and few are paying attention. It shouldn't have taken four homers in the last week to get us to take notice. Votto has been trending upward for almost two months now.

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