The Cincinnati Reds activated Joey Votto in mid-June. While watching a Reds game on TV, an analyst indicated that Votto has shown a strong plate discipline in his career. After watching the game, I was just wondering one thing.
Votto’s plate discipline is good, and I also remember that the other player is well-known for his elite plate discipline. Hence, I was thinking that it would be interesting to see these 2 players’ plate discipline through their careers.
Firstly, let’s look at the walk rate. Very soon, Joey Votto will turn 40 years old. He made his MLB debut in 2007 and it’s his 17th season with the Reds. In 2010, Votto won the NL MVP award. In that season, he slashed .324/.424/.600 with 37 home runs and 113 RBI. He drew 91 walks in 2010 and his walk rate was 14%. Votto now has a walk rate over 15% by far in his career. In 2015, his BB% was 20.6%, which is the highest so far in his career. And, that’s the only season that he has a walk rate over 20% so far in his career.
Juan Soto made it into the big leagues in 2018. Back then, he was only 19 years old. Since 2018, drawing walks has been very common while Soto is at the plate. In 2018, his walk rate was 16%. From 2020 to 2022, he finished each season with a walk rate of at least 20%. In particular, his BB% was 22.2% in 2021.
In addition, let’s take a look at the chase rate. From 2015 to 2020, Joey Votto’s chase rate remained below 20% each season. In particular, in 2017 and 2018, he finished each season with a chase rate below 14%. However, in 2021 and 2022, his chase rate was over 20% each season.
At the same time, when we look at Juan Soto’s numbers. So far, there’s only one time that he finished the season with a chase rate over 20%. It was the 2019 season and Soto’s chase rate was 20.3%.
Finally, let’s now look at the numbers this season. Joey Votto’s walk rate is just over 10% and his chase rate is over 25% thus far. Meanwhile, Juan Soto has a walk rate over 20% and his chase rate is 15.3%. As we can clearly see, Soto is more disciplined in the 2023 season.
There’s no doubt that Joey Votto has a great career. He is a 6-time All-Star and an MVP award winner. His on-base percentage is over .400 and he has 1300+ walks thus far in his career. Additionally, there are 6 times that he drew at least 100 walks in a single season. A great discipline is surely a key to his successful career. In the meantime, since making it into the big leagues in 2018, Juan Soto has redefined the plate discipline. By far in his career, his on-base percentage is over .400 as well. Moreover, he already drew 607 walks through 728 games and there are 3 seasons that he drew 100+ walks. Soto hasn’t turned 25 yet. If Soto stays healthy and stays disciplined, it won't take much time to see him overtake Votto in walks.
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