Watching any given baseball game, you might see something you’ve never seen before. Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto provided that during the team’s Opening Day game against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday night.
In the top of the fifth inning, Votto popped out to Atlanta pitcher Max Fried. On the surface, that may not seem earth-shattering. But it was the 8,131st plate appearance in Votto’s illustrious career. In the 8,130 prior appearances, he’d never popped out to the pitcher.
An overjoyed, voice-cracking Tim Kurkjian can't believe he witnessed Joey Votto pop out to the pitcher (for the first time in Votto's career). 😂⚾️ pic.twitter.com/hUgmfBsKjC
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 8, 2022
Votto’s rare out drew a big reaction from MLB fans following the game.
An overjoyed, voice-cracking Tim Kurkjian can't believe he witnessed Joey Votto pop out to the pitcher (for the first time in Votto's career). 😂⚾️ pic.twitter.com/hUgmfBsKjC
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/skinnytalls/status/1512245018215526404
There was legit a game I popped out to the pitcher 3 times https://t.co/Vm86qqFK7w
— Mason Pierzchalski (@MasonPaul_10) April 8, 2022
This is why pic.twitter.com/6QvoMBdMg6 https://t.co/2rHSZYSxxB
— Jack (@YelichWasRobbed) April 8, 2022
https://twitter.com/PowerHourSam/status/1512245083952889859
https://twitter.com/skinnytalls/status/1512245018215526404
How can someone play for as long as Joey Votto has and never — not once — hit a popout back to the mound? That's incredible. https://t.co/ozqr5ix1Tu
— Seth Tow (@SethTow) April 8, 2022
Max Fried is the best pitcher of all time https://t.co/BEHwutuzZF
— Garrett Spain (@BravesMILB) April 8, 2022
Of course, there’s one elephant in the room that must be addressed. In the scorebooks, this will go down as a P-1, or a pop-up to the pitcher. But you’d hardly be blamed for not thinking of it as a pop-up to the pitcher on sight alone.
The ball was actually a pop-up to third base. Normally, that ball would be caught by the third baseman or maybe, the catcher. Against this defense, though, the pitcher was the man to make the play.
I blame the shift for this first-ever popout to the pitcher. https://t.co/oTpz0LrLuQ
— Zack Grillot (@ZackGrillot) April 8, 2022
And it was in foul ground on the 3rd base side because the shift was on. He's never gonna pop one up to the mound. NEVER. https://t.co/JvKVGOTZVY
— A . 함 (@GiantAsianMan) April 8, 2022
If this ends up being the only pop-out to the pitcher in Votto’s career, he’ll be able to use that asterisk for the rest of this life. But he can no longer say that one of his at-bats has never resulted in a P-1.
Still, it was one heck of a run.
