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2023 Player Outlook

Votto had a resurgence in 2021, but he had a hard crash back down to Earth in 2022. His .205 batting average was the worst of his career, as was his 25.8 percent strikeout rate, .319 OBP, and 92 wRC+. When he did make contact, nothing was too awry there, other than a dip in his hard-hit rate, but the bigger pitfalls come by way of his plate discipline. Votto posted his highest O-Swing rate (28.8%) since 2010, the lowest contact rate (73%) of his entire career, and the second-highest swinging strike rate (12.6%) of his career. He missed the last couple of months of the year to undergo rotator cuff surgery, but it seems like that won't be an issue for the start of 2023. Votto is a flier at this point, and there's no guessing what version of Votto we get in 2023. Is it the version that hits 30+ home runs, or the one that hovers around the Mendoza line? At his current price, which routinely seems him drafted outside of the top 300, he's worth a shot.