GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- In the context of facing the Cubs last Thursday and witnessing their innovative approach in leading off Kyle Schwarber, Reds manager Bryan Price admitted he pondered the prospect of Joey Votto in the one hole last year.
To be sure, Price is committed to batting Votto third for the better part of 2017, but in seeing Schwarber and the Indians' success with Carlos Santana leading off, Price said he loosely considered moving Votto from third to first in the lineup.
"The more that I saw Santana doing it last year, it gave me pause to think about it," Price said. "But no, I just think the value is where [Votto] is."
Price has played with lineup shuffles involving Votto before. For a bulk of a six-week stretch last year from May to July, Price batted Votto second in hopes of stimulating a stymied Reds offense that, at the time, ranked fourth-worst in MLB with an average 73 wRC+, which measures how players compare with league average, set at 100, after accounting ballpark effects.
Votto moved back to his standard three-hole just before the All-Star break, and in the second half, in which he hit third in each of his 71 starts, ranked among the NL leaders in batting average (first, .407) on-base percentage (first, .490), slugging (tied first, .655), and RBIs (tied fourth, 52) -- remarkable numbers, and fitting as a club's primary run producer.
"Now with the cast that we have here, hopefully, we have the guys that can set the table, and provide Joey and the guys behind him with some opportunities to drive in some runs, instead of him having the onus of scoring them," Price said.
Price said Thursday he envisions the everyday lineup in '17 consisting of, one through four: Billy Hamilton, Jose Peraza, Votto and Adam Duvall.