Bruce's down; will Votto follow?

Friday, March 21, 2008 | Feedback | Print Entry

Oh yes, they did: The Reds have sent super-prospect Jay Bruce to the minors. But that might not be the worst of it, as Joey Votto's poor spring probably leaves him behind Scott Hatteberg on the depth chart. From a BTF comments page:

Bruce turns 21 in a week or so, and played 50 games at AAA, by all means let him clear 100 games there.
Votto is 24, he turns 25 at the end of the season, he had 590 PAs in AA (.319/.408/.547) and 580 PAs in AAA (.294/.381/.478) and hit .321/.360/.548 in his 24 game cup of coffee last year.
A composite projection (pecota + zips + a few others) I downloaded had Hatteberg at .280/.370/.415- Votto at .283/.364/.482...
Hatteberg had a nice year last year, but this is absurd.

Couldn't have said it better myself. It doesn't matter much if the Rays send Evan Longoria down, because they're not a playoff team either way. But the Reds maybe have sort of a legitimate shot ... if Bruce and Votto combine for 1,000 or more plate appearances (and yes, I pulled that figure from thin air).

Rob Neyer
Rob Neyer is a senior writer at ESPN.com. He began his career with legendary baseball author (and current Red Sox executive) Bill James, then joined Stats Inc. and wrote about MLB, the NFL and the NBA. Neyer joined ESPN.com in 1996, and it's believed that he's written more words for the site than anybody.

He's also written six books, including "The Neyer/James Guide to Pitchers" (with Bill James) and the just-published "Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Legends: The Truth, the Lies, and Everything Else."

Neyer moved to Kansas City in 1976, just in time for the Royals' first division title, and fell in love almost immediately. He attended the University of Kansas the same four years as Danny Manning, and is now happy to wait another 20 years for the Jayhawks' next championship.

Neyer contributes regularly to ESPN Radio and ESPNEWS.

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