As Joey Votto celebrates his 43rd birthday on Thursday, the former Cincinnati Reds first baseman is enjoying being a rookie again.
Votto, who last played in a big-league game in 2023 and retired during the 2024 season after signing with his hometown Toronto Blue Jays, is in his first season as part of NBC/Peacock’s expansive baseball broadcast crew, serving as what the network has called an “Inside the Pitch” analyst. During the final weekend of August, Votto appeared on the network’s coverage of the Reds’ game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, along with play-by-play broadcaster Jason Benetti, Reds analyst Jeff Brantley and former Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo.
While the other three were in the booth, Votto watched from the dugout level and weighed in not just on what happened on the field, but with some of the less serious parts about the game, including a claim to have never eaten nachos. (He later noted on X that this was not true.)
Online, praise for the broadcast was effusive. Votto, who spoke to The Athletic by phone last week, said he was appreciative of the positive feedback, but more interested in what he felt were valid criticisms of his performance.
Some of the asides, like the nachos or reflections on Votto’s career or relationships with players like Rizzo, charmed some viewers and annoyed others, but he had plenty of insight on the Reds, Cubs and the game.
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Votto, who will return for Peacock’s Sept. 20 “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast between Milwaukee and Baltimore before contributing to the network’s playoff coverage, weighed in on his first year of broadcasting, where he can improve and what the future holds.
Note: Questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
I really felt like your first broadcast was a lot of fun. How did you feel about the experience?
The group I worked with was excellent, but the more I read the feedback from the public, which is our audience, it was highly positive. I’ll just speak to my performance — what I want to give the public, the listener, is far more insight, and I want to make sure I don’t distract from the game.
I think there are some nice, fun moments, but I think my responsibility in the “Inside the Pitch” role is to make sure that, of course I am myself, but they’re tuning in for my expertise, for Anthony’s expertise, for Jeff’s expertise. Our former playing days are what we can offer, and I’ll just say for me, I need to do a much better job of giving the viewer how I see the game through the lens of my playing days experience. I can guarantee the next time I work, I’ll be giving much more pointed, helpful replies that can help the person tuning in to better understand some of the nuances of the game.
I read an article about Tom Brady and the difference between his first and second year, and he had a bit of the same thing where there’s just too much — where being more to the point with emphasis serves the audience much better, and I’m going to do the same.
Are you glad you were able to get your first broadcast of a Reds game out of the way early?
I’m glad that I did on the road, if I’m honest. I think that connecting with the fanbase through a road game is probably better. I’m not ready to come back to Cincinnati. I would come back as a fan first.
What I would really like to do is come through early next year. At some point, I would love to come by and take pictures by the clock (at Great American Ball Park that Votto gave to the team) and say hello and walk through the gate as a fan, much more casually. I haven’t been back to watch a game, and I don’t think I’ve watched a game as a fan in Cincinnati yet. I did it while I was injured, but I’m talking about going beyond just saying hello to people and doing things more casually. I was glad to do the (Reds) game on the road to focus.
There were moments where I probably bit my tongue on things because I don’t want to burn bridges or piss people off. Because if I speak too candidly — clearly the Reds have underperformed. There’s some stuff that needs to be better, and the fans are the ones saying that constantly. So I had to make sure I managed my feedback, and I was maximally supportive.
I said this on the very last day I left Cincinnati, and this is kind of the point I was trying to make on the broadcast, but St. Louis is quote-unquote baseball heaven. There are players that want to go there. There are free agents that sign because of the nostalgia and the reputation and the history of the Cardinals and how the organization is run from the top to the bottom, and that’s earned. It bothers me that with a longer history, with plenty of prestige and some of the greatest players of all-time and also a city that no matter what, the Reds are the centerpiece of the city, especially when they are doing well. I had to bite my tongue when I came to my hopes for the team long-term because I think the fanbase deserves a lot. I’m not the one signing the checks, and I’m not the one making the decisions, so I have to watch how much I say, but yeah, on the broadcast I had to be more complimentary than critical. It’s fine. I would generally be more critical of a different team, but when you know these people …
But on the broadcast, you still used “we” to refer to the Reds.
Well, I’ll always be a Red. I use the word “we” from the side of the fans, from the side of the players. I say it as a fan because I’ll always be a Cincinnati Red. My family is the fanbase. My family are the players.
Front offices come and go. Even ownership comes and goes, but I’ll always be a major-league player, and the moment you put that uniform on, you’re a Cincinnati Red. Ask Brandon Phillips. Ask Jay Bruce. Ask Aroldis Chapman. Ask Johnny Cueto. Ask Elly De La Cruz.
I’ll never not be a Cincinnati Red. I tried so hard to be a Toronto Blue Jays fan, but it’s not in me. I tried hard. I signed with the team. I was raised a Toronto Blue Jays fan, but when you spend 24 years with a team, and you’re on the field, and you go to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, or you go to get coffee, and people come up to say hi, and you know them by eye contact, and you know their first names. … When you support the Freestore Foodbank, and you go by Cincinnati Public Schools, it’s impossible to transition. As much as I’m going to financially support my communities, I’ll always be a Cincinnati Red, and it’s not possible to be raised in Cincinnati and not feel that way as you get older. You always have a soft spot for it.
You mentioned being focused more on the game and what is happening on the field, but one of my favorite parts (of the first broadcast) was how you noticed quickly that the first batter of the game’s grounder got stuck in Cubs first baseman Michael Busch’s glove and how the web may have broken. That led to you and Rizzo talking about how to prevent that. That was the first batter, and I thought it set a tone.
This is what we have to give them more of. It’s our obligation that when you tune in and have a specific angle behind the pitcher, you don’t get to see these subtleties that really matter.
What if that glove breaks and a run scores and you lose by one and you’re (having a), “What the f— is going on?” type of reaction, it’s our obligation to offer it. An adjustment in the box or an adjustment by the pitcher. Does he look hurt? Is this going to affect the next month? — these are little things that players can see. We can always see everything way before it becomes a reality, and that’s what we have to give the fan because they want inside, as they should. They’re the paying customers. We’re going to give them as much insight as we possibly can. That’s why you have former players who played first or caught or pitched who are able to provide that feedback.
Do you like sitting near the dugout, close to where you were as a player, or would you prefer to be in the booth?
I don’t really care where I sit; I just want to make sure I serve the public and can give them what they want and the game can breathe. The side is fine. I don’t mind it. I tried really hard to stay out of the game as much as possible until called upon. That’s fine. I see things on the field being that close that I really want to share, but the people in the booth are speaking most of the time, so I didn’t want to pipe up.
There are plenty of things that I shared — like the Elly thing, which, by the way, I’ll never take back what I said about Elly being exactly on par with (Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong) despite there being a difference between the two seasons. I think Elly is going to have his own (MVP-type season) at some point, but I think Elly’s going to need to take it just one gear higher and he’ll get there.
While we’re on current Reds, what do you think of what you’ve seen from Sal Stewart? During the game, there was a graphic showing he had the second-most home runs by a Reds rookie, behind Frank Robinson and ahead of you. What do you think he’ll need to do to take it to the next level?
In my experience, you take one step back and maybe you don’t homer quite as much to be able to get on base a bit more. At some point, you have to do a little less to do more. These guys who homer a lot and don’t get on base. He’s going to have to get better at that. I don’t want to sound critical because he’s had such a great year, but there’s no question about it; there’s more potential there.
I’d like to see him maybe not homer as much. I saw my slugging percentage go up when, instead of taking that transaction of 15-20 outs to get the homer, you may tack on an extra walk or two or something like that.
It’s an odd thing to ask of a guy who is about to hit 35 or 40 homers and drive in a bunch of runs. It’s a team game and getting on base and running the bases allow for those bigger innings.
I would say that in time he’s going to have to really refine his game. I’m not saying this because I got on base a lot or comparing him to me; I’d say the same thing about Elly. That’s how he’s getting better. Elly’s getting better at that. These are things you adjust and say, I’m not going to give away so many outs to get my hits and my homers and my RBIs; I’m going to take the walk.
Just as Stewart is going to make adjustments to his game from his rookie year to the future, how are you working on improving from your rookie year as a broadcaster?
I actually use AI. I throw in all the notes I get from NBC, and then I take the transcript — I took the NBC transcript from (the Cubs-Reds broadcast) and plopped it into Grok, and I had it provide feedback based on specific parts. I used Vin Scully as a comp, asking it why is Vin Scully more efficient?
I practice with it. It can banter back and forth with me. We go through broadcast prep, and I tell it, “Update yourself based on this particular matchup.” What are the storylines? What would Bob Costas ask me? What would Ahmed (Fareed) ask me pregame? I practice, and then it provides feedback on whether I was efficient enough, whether I had enough volume or if I changed my tone, whether I was finishing the point. Whether I was adding commas or using “so,” “and” and “very” too much or adding hyperbole or whatever it is. I do that before each round, and it helps a little bit. It’s been a really helpful tool.
You’re not only taking feedback from AI, but also from what people are saying online? You’ve actually gone into the comments?
I don’t know enough about this, so I’m going to take the public’s feedback. I love when people are emotional and say I’m a f—ing idiot because of my take. That doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is “why are you talking so much?” Or “why are you so long-winded” or “get to the f—ing point.”
It’s like when I played — it never bothered me when people said, “Why aren’t you driving in runs?” It would bother me if people said, “He doesn’t get the job done” or “His swing sucks” or “He’s not as good as this person or that person.”
It’s more about the product and less about the style of the product.
I s— on the Cubs a couple of times and the fans reacted emotionally, as they should. They should defend themselves and tell me that I’m a f—ing idiot. Which is absolutely fair and part of the reaction I’m looking for.
This is just the start of your broadcasting career. Is this something you wish to do long-term?
I don’t know yet. I don’t have that answer yet. I’m enjoying it, though. It’s more about whether I feel like I’m helping. I have to feel like I’m helping.