Minor leagues The
Cincinnati Reds selected Votto out of high school in the second round with the 44th overall selection of the
2002 MLB draft. He debuted in
Minor League Baseball (MiLB) with the
Gulf Coast League Reds in 2002, playing in 50 games. Votto played defensively at
third base,
catcher, and in
left field before primarily playing first base the rest of his career. In 2003, he started the season with the Reds' affiliate
Dayton Dragons of the
Class A Midwest League,
hitting .231 with 1 home run in 60 games. He was demoted to the
Billings Mustangs of the
Rookie Pioneer League, where he won the only championship of his career and which he later called "one of the favorite stops" of his career. He hit .317 with a .969
on base plus slugging percentage (OPS) as the Mustangs won the Pioneer League championship. In 2004, Votto returned to Dayton, hitting 26 doubles and 14
home runs with a batting average of .302 in 111 games. He was promoted in August to the
Potomac Cannons of the
Class A-Advanced Carolina League and hit five more home runs in 24 games to end the season with 19 home runs. During the 2005 campaign with the
Sarasota Reds of the Class A-Advanced
Florida State League, he hit 19 home runs but
struck out 122 times and his batting average dropped nearly 50 points to .257. Votto rebounded in 2006 with the best season of his minor league career. Playing for the
Chattanooga Lookouts of the
Class AA Southern League, he improved his batting average to .319, and hit 46
doubles and 22 home runs. He led the
Southern League in batting average and total bases and was third in home runs and
runs batted in (RBI). He was selected to play in the 2006
All-Star Futures Game on the World Team. He was named to both the Mid-Season and Post-Season Southern League All-Star teams, and was voted a minor league all-star by
Baseball America. He culminated his season by winning the
Southern League Most Valuable Player Award. He often mimicked the
batting stances of other baseball players, including
Albert Pujols,
Barry Bonds, and
Todd Helton. shortly before starting his major league career.
Cincinnati Reds 2007 season Votto started the 2007 season playing for the
Louisville Bats of the
Class AAA International League. The Reds promoted Votto to the major leagues on September 1, 2007. He made his major league debut on September 4, striking out against
Guillermo Mota of the
New York Mets. On September 5, he hit his first career home run in his second major league at-bat. He went 3-for-5 and scored two runs as the Reds won, 7–0. On September 8, he went 1-for-3 with a home run and three runs batted in. His three RBI were the Reds' only runs as they lost to the
Milwaukee Brewers, 4–3. On September 14, he stole his first career base. He ended the season going 2-for-4 with a home run and five RBI in the
Cincinnati Reds' final game of the 2007 season on September 30. He finished the season batting .321 with four home runs and 17 RBI. Votto played 6 games in left field, committing one
error, in 2007, the most he would play another defensive position besides first base in his career. On April 15, he hit his first home run of the season off
Michael Wuertz. He drove in a career-high five runs against the Cubs two games later. On May 7, Votto hit three home runs in a game against the
Chicago Cubs. Votto hit his first career pinch-hit home run against
Cleveland's
Cliff Lee, who would win the
AL Cy Young Award that season. On August 31, Votto had his first career four-hit game against the
San Francisco Giants. He knocked in four runs in a 9–3 Reds victory. Votto finished second in National League
Rookie of the Year voting to the
Chicago Cubs'
Geovany Soto. He led all National League rookies in hitting (.297), hits (156), home runs (24), total bases (266), multi-hit games (42), on-base percentage (.368), and
slugging percentage (.506). Votto also broke the Reds' record for the most runs batted in by a rookie in a season. The previous record was held by
Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson with 83 in
1956. Votto drove in 84 runs during the 2008 season.
2009 season Votto was the
Opening Day starter at first base to begin the
2009 season. In the second game of the season, he went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBI in a loss to the Mets. In the next game against the Mets, he had another homer and four RBI. He had a six-game hitting streak from April 12–18. On April 23, he went 4-for-5 with a home run and 2 runs batted in against the Cubs. He posted a .346 batting average with 3 home runs and 20 RBI in April. Votto opened May with a five-game hitting streak. On May 23, he had two home runs and four RBI in a win over Cleveland. He finished the month with five home runs and a .378 batting average. However, he was placed on the
disabled list to open June after missing time in May due to personal issues. He missed 22 of the Reds' games in May and June. He had previously missed time because of dizziness related to an inner ear infection. Votto made his return against the
Toronto Blue Jays on June 23. In his third game back, he went 4-for-5 with a home run and four RBI. Despite missing 31 games, Votto finished the 2009 season among the National League leaders in batting average (.322), on-base percentage (.414), and slugging percentage (.567), and he hit 25 home runs. Votto was not initially voted to the
2010 All-Star game in
Anaheim, California, but he made the roster via online fan voting through the National League's Final Vote. He was named on 13.7 million of the 26 million ballots submitted. Votto went 0-for-2 in the game. Votto was on the cover of
Sports Illustrated for its August 30, 2010 edition. On September 11, Votto hit his first career walk-off home run off Pirates relief pitcher
Justin Thomas. For the season, Votto hit .324 with 113 RBI, 106 runs scored and 37 home runs, including a
grand slam off
Tommy Hanson of the
Atlanta Braves on May 20. He finished the season leading the major leagues in on-base percentage (.424) and led the National League in slugging percentage (.600) and
on-base plus slugging (1.024). The Reds made the
playoffs but lost to the
Philadelphia Phillies in the
National League Division Series in a three-game sweep. Votto struggled in the series, batting .100 with one run batted in. Votto won the 2010
National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, coming within one vote of winning unanimously, with
Albert Pujols receiving one first-place vote. He was only the third Canadian to win an MVP award, after
Larry Walker and
Justin Morneau. He became the first Reds player to win the MVP award since
Barry Larkin in
1995. "Not to be dramatic or anything, but after I was told, I couldn't help but cry because I know how much at some point this meant to me and would have meant to my [late] father," Votto remarked after being named MVP. He added, "I did some pretty good things, and most importantly, we won. We went to the playoffs—it's been a long time since we'd been to the playoffs—and I think those all together were the reason I won."
2011 season On January 16, 2011, the Reds and Votto announced they had agreed to a three-year, $38-million contract. Votto homered in the Reds' first game of the
2011 season—a solo homer off
Kameron Loe of the Brewers. He recorded his first four-hit game of the season against the
Arizona Diamondbacks and raised his average to .455. By the end of April, he had a .370
batting average, four home runs, and 14
runs batted in. He posted a .500 on-base percentage. He began the season by reaching base in 27 consecutive games dating back to the previous season. On June 25, Votto hit his 100th career home run against
Brian Matusz of the
Baltimore Orioles. He later added another home run in the game. That was also his first multi-homer game of the season. He also drove in five runs, his most in a game during the season. On July 3, Votto was voted in by the players for the
2011 All-Star Game as a reserve. He went 0-for-2 with a strikeout. On September 24, he drove in two runs against the Pirates for his 100th and 101st runs batted in of the season, becoming the first Reds player to drive in 100 runs in back-to-back seasons since
Dave Parker in 1985 and 1986. Votto finished the season with a .309
batting average, 29 home runs, and 103 RBI. He also led the National League in doubles (40), bases on balls (110), and on-base percentage (.416).
2012 season On April 2, 2012, Votto signed a 10-year, $225 million contract extension with the Reds, which ran through the 2024 season. The deal included the two remaining years on his previous contract and pushed the total worth of the contract to 12 years and $251.5 million—the longest active deal in baseball and the longest guaranteed contract in MLB history at the time. The deal, including a one-year team option, was the
13th-largest deal in MLB history. Also, the contract made Votto the highest paid athlete from Canada. On July 1, Votto was selected by the fans as a National League team starter in the
2012 MLB All-Star Game. At the time of his selection, he was hitting .350 with 14 home runs and 47 RBIs. On July 16, the Reds announced that Votto needed arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee and was expected to miss three to four weeks. He originally hurt the knee June 29 sliding into third base. He left the next day before the bottom of the fifth inning and missed the next two games because of inflammation in his knee. At the time surgery was announced, he was leading the National League in
walks, doubles, on-base percentage, and
extra-base hits. He was second in batting average with
runners in scoring position and third in slugging percentage. After his return from the disabled list, he struggled to hit for power. In 25 games, he hit eight
doubles and drove in seven runs, but didn't hit any home runs. He still got on base at a high clip with an on-base percentage of .505 and walking 28 times. In that span, he also batted .316. Votto finished the season having played in 111 games—the fewest he played in a season since becoming the Reds' starting
first basemen in 2008. He had a .337 batting average, .474 on-base percentage, and a .567 slugging percentage to go along with 14 home runs, 56 RBI, and 44 doubles. His 94 walks tied for the National League lead with
Dan Uggla and his 18 intentional walks tied with
Prince Fielder to lead the majors.
2013 season In late February, Votto was voted by fans as the "Face of the MLB," a contest that pits the "face" of every MLB team against each other and uses
Twitter. He received more votes than
Joe Mauer,
José Bautista,
Derek Jeter,
Andrew McCutchen, and
Matt Kemp. Votto homered on consecutive days from April 20–21 against the
Marlins, making it the first time since September 10–11, 2011 he homered in consecutive games. In July, he was again voted as a starter for the
2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. It was his fourth All-Star appearance. In the game, he went 0-for-2, making him a career 0-for-9 in All-Star Games.
2014 season On May 21, 2014, Votto was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left
quadriceps. He returned on June 10, but he went back on the disabled list with the same injury on July 8 and did not return in the
2014 season. In 62 games, he hit a career-low .255 with a .390 on-base percentage, .409 slugging percentage, six home runs, 47 walks, and 23 RBI. On June 9, Votto hit three home runs in a game for the third time in his career, in a game against the
Philadelphia Phillies. The last Reds player to accomplish this feat was
Barry Larkin. On August 2, Votto was ejected following a bench-clearing brawl between the Reds and the Pirates. On September 9, Votto was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. It was the third time during the season that Votto was ejected; coincidentally, all three were against the
Pittsburgh Pirates. On September 11, MLB suspended Votto for two games with an option to appeal. On October 2, Votto tied a Reds record set by
Pete Rose in 1978 when he got on base for his 48th straight game. In 158 games during 2015, Votto had an MLB-leading 143 walks, a .314 batting average, 29 home runs, and 80 RBI. He walked in 20.6% of his at bats (leading the major leagues), and he swung at only 19.1% of pitches outside the
strike zone (the lowest percentage in the majors). Following the season, Votto was awarded his fifth Tip O'Neill Award. He finished third in the National League Most Valuable Player award voting behind
Bryce Harper and
Paul Goldschmidt.
2016 season After hitting a season-low .213 on May 31, Votto became the first player in MLB since
Ichiro Suzuki in 2004 to hit .400 after the All-Star break. Votto hit .408/.490/.668 in the second half, between July 15 and the season's end on October 2. Votto's .326 season average was the second-best of his career, behind only his 2012 season, where he hit .337. Votto hit 29 home runs, second only to his 2010 Most Valuable Player award season. This performance earned Votto his fifth career All-Star appearance as a substitute. He was also known for his promise to buy teammate
Zack Cozart a donkey for making the
2017 All-Star Game. After many interviews and an appearance in a donkey suit on
MLB Network's
Intentional Talk, Cozart won the fan vote and made the cut as the National League starting shortstop. Votto upheld his end of the deal, buying Cozart a donkey named Donald. As the second half of the season passed, the Reds continued to struggle, but Votto did just the opposite. Late in the year, Votto had a streak of consecutive games reaching base multiple times, which spanned 20 games and was the second longest in major league history behind Ted Williams' 1948 record of 21. He finished the year with a stat-line that included a .319 batting average (4th in the NL), a .578 slugging percentage (7th), 106 runs scored (6th), 36 homers (6th), and 100 runs batted in (10th). He led the league in on-base percentage at .454, on-base percentage plus slugging average (at 1.032), in walks for the fifth season (134), in walk percentage (at 19%), and in walks per strikeout (at 1.61), while leading the majors in
intentional walks (20). He had 8.1
wins above replacement according to
Baseball Reference, the highest of his career and best in the NL that year. Votto's homer total was one under his 2010 season as well. Votto became the first Reds player since
Pete Rose in 1975 to start all 162 regular season games in a season and just the fourth player in franchise history to do so. He swung at only 15.8% of pitches outside the
strike zone, the lowest rate in the majors. Among all active players at the end of the season, he was first in career on-base percentage (.428), second in on-base plus slugging (.969), third in batting average (.313), fourth in walks (996), and fifth in slugging percentage (.541). Votto also finished second in the National League Most Valuable Player award voting, narrowly losing out to
Giancarlo Stanton by two votes in the fourth-closest vote in major league history.
2018 season |left With eight home runs and 44 RBIs by early July, Votto was named to the
2018 MLB All-Star Game. For the season, he batted .284, had an on-base percentage of .417 and a slugging average of .419. Votto became the sixth player in major league history to lead his league in on-base percentage at least seven times, following
Ted Williams (12),
Barry Bonds and
Babe Ruth (10 each),
Rogers Hornsby (9), and
Ty Cobb (7). He hit a pop-out to first base for the first time in his career on April 17 (which was his 6,829th plate appearance).
2020 season On September 20, Votto drew the 1,211th walk of his career, passing Pete Rose for the most in Reds history. In the
pandemic-shortened 2020 regular season, Votto played in 53 games. He had 223 plate appearances and batted .226, had an on-base percentage of .354, and a slugging percentage of .446, with 11 home runs and 22 runs batted in.
2021 season On April 30, Votto hit his 300th career home run, a go-ahead home run in the bottom of the third inning versus the
Chicago Cubs. On May 5, Votto was hit by a pitch from Dallas Keuchel, fracturing his left thumb. He was placed on the 10 day injured list, not returning to play until June 8. On June 19, Votto was ejected from a game for arguing a
checked swing third strike call during a game against the
San Diego Padres. He was restrained by the Reds' coaching staff during the argument and later received a two-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for his conduct. After an appeal, the suspension was reduced to one game. Votto served his suspension during a game against the
Minnesota Twins on June 22. On June 30, Votto hit a home run against
Joe Musgrove of the
San Diego Padres, notching his 1,000th career RBI of his career, all with the Reds. He is one of five players to have driven in 1,000 runs as a Red. On July 30, in a game against the
New York Mets, Votto hit a home run, which marked his seventh straight game with a home run alongside setting a club record for most games with a home run. The streak ended the next night, when he failed to hit a home run, falling one short of tying the league record for most consecutive games with a home run, though Votto became the oldest player to hit nine home runs in seven games. He was named
NL Player of the Month for July 2021. On August 16, Votto collected his 2,000th career hit, a single off Cubs reliever
Michael Rucker. Votto finished the 2021 season hitting .266 with 36 home runs and 99 RBI. He had the lowest percentage of softly hit balls among all qualified batters, at 8.0%.
2022 season Votto's 2022 season was hampered by injuries and an especially poor start to the year. On August 14, 2022, Votto played in his 1,989th career game, passing
Larry Walker for the most major league games played by a Canadian-born player. He underwent season-ending surgery to repair a
torn left rotator cuff on August 19. Votto said the injury dated back to 2015 but
strength training had enabled him to play through the discomfort. He finished with what were then-career lows in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage.
2023 season Votto appeared in 65 games in the 2023 season, finishing with a .202 batting average. He played in his 2,000th game on June 30 against the Padres. He hit his last home run against
Andrew Suárez of the Cardinals on September 10. The final hit of his career was a single against the Pirates'
Andre Jackson on September 24, and his final times on base were in a game when he earned three base on balls against the
Cleveland Guardians on September 26. Votto struck out in his final major league at-bat on October 1. He was ejected after the play by home plate umpire Shane Livensparger for yelling from the dugout that the third pitch in the at bat should have been called a ball. After the ejection, Votto approached Livensparger, recalling that he was not angry, and said, "That ball was inside. This could be my last game!" The umpire replied, "Then why'd you get thrown out, Joey?" Votto said he let his emotions get the best of him and that Livensparger was right to eject him. Votto became a
free agent for the first time in his career following the 2023 season.
Toronto Blue Jays On March 9, 2024, Votto signed a minor league contract with the
Toronto Blue Jays that included an invitation to
spring training. Votto injured his ankle during that time, which kept him on the injured list through July. He appeared in 15 games for the
Buffalo Bisons, the Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate, where he had a batting average of .143. == International career ==