CINCINNATI -- The Reds held up submitting their Opening Day roster until they knew if Joey Votto would be ready to play. Their mainstay first baseman, who missed a large chunk of Spring Training with COVID-19, felt fine and was in the starting lineup Thursday.
Votto, the longest tenured current Reds player since debuting in 2007, appreciated the opportunity to participate in the opener.
“It's always an honor. And, sometimes I think I've taken it for granted,” Votto said. “I actually slept through an Opening Day intro [in 2016]. I got the walk-off hit that day, though. But with each passing year, I realize how special it is. And certainly with some missed time during camp, I was concerned that I wasn't going to make Opening Day for this year, but I'm glad that I made it. Of course, there's a skill component, too, but most of it was conditioning. I was really worried about how I was coming back.”
Votto, 37, played only four spring games before a COVID-19 diagnosis forced him to quarantine for two weeks. He didn’t return to the lineup until March 26 and played three more games.
In the Cactus League finale, Votto had four plate appearances, played eight innings and hit the ball twice.
“I bounced back pretty well,” Votto said. “I ran really well [Wednesday]. I ran well when we were conditioning in Arizona. That was pretty much it, just making sure I had my lungs and that I was able to bounce back. ... We play every day. I have to be ready to play every day.”
Reds manager David Bell did not need to be convinced to activate Votto. Bell noted that early off-days such as Friday’s would allow him to ease back somewhat.
“We know how much he wants to play. There’s no doubt,” Bell said. “With COVID, it’s a little tricky because everyone responds to it differently. We really had to rely on him completely. We allowed it to play out as long as we could. I think at the last minute -- even though I knew all along he wanted to play -- he felt like he was doing the best thing for the team as of yesterday to be activated and start playing. Physically, the fact he played eight innings on Monday helped. It was just a matter of how he would recover from that.”
Blandino earns a roster spot
Once it was determined that Votto was ready to play, one of the final roster spots went to utility infielder Alex Blandino. It marked the first time that Blandino was an active player on Opening Day after he was with the big league club for parts of 2018 and ’19. He spent all of ’20 at the alternate training site.
Blandino batted .311/.367/.511 with one home run and 10 RBIs in 21 spring games while playing every infield position.
“Talk about earning it. He’s done everything right,” Bell said. “It hasn’t been easy for him. He hasn’t gotten the opportunities when he’s probably deserved it. He’s been overlooked a few times, by me, and he just stayed with it.”