Votto: 'Just think of me as the Canadian Ichiro'

C. Trent Rosecrans | Cincinnati Enquirer

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – If asked, Joey Votto would consider participating in the Home Run Derby at next month’s All-Star Game, but he hasn’t been asked.

Votto, who entered Thursday tied for second in the National League in home runs with 20, has never participated in the derby. He nearly did it in 2010, he said, but he was voted into the game later and deferred.

Once he’s in it, Votto said, he believes he has as good of a chance as anyone to win, he said.

“Do I think I can win it? Of course,” he said.

None of his teammates doubt him.

“If he really sold out and said, 'I'm going to win this,’ there's a good chance he would do it,” said Adam Duvall, who has 16 home runs and reached the semifinals last year in San Diego, falling to defending champion and former Red third baseman Todd Frazier. “With him, that's probably anything. Anything that he really sets out to do, that he wants to win, he can do it – whatever it is.”

Votto is currently hitting home runs at a higher rate than he has at any point in his career, one every 15.65 plate appearances. Votto certainly has power, but he’s more known for his plate discipline and all-around hitting abilities.

In that regard, he’s up there with another yearly fashionable pick to win the Home Run Derby – Ichiro Suzuki. Before last year’s All-Star Game in San Diego, Barry Bonds said he thought Suzuki could win the derby if he participated. Anyone who has seen Suzuki hit home runs at will in batting practice wouldn’t doubt it.

“Just think of me as the Canadian Ichiro – Japan has theirs and Canada has theirs,” Votto joked when asked about similarities to Suzuki. “Yes, I could pull homers into the seats at will.”

Batting practice shows don’t interest Votto. His batting practices are more workshop and less show.

“I don't know how he'd do, but I think he'd be great,” said Scott Schebler, who also has 20 homers. “You just watch him as a hitter and he'd figure it out, not a big deal. He doesn't show off in BP, so it's hard to imagine. But I think he'd be just fine. Goodness gracious a hitter like him, it doesn't take him long to figure stuff out. I think he'd be just fine.”

Votto and Schebler are the first Reds teammates to have at least 20 homers in the first 71 games of the season since 1970, when Tony Perez had 26 through 71 games and Johnny Bench had 25. Duvall currently has 16 home runs and the three could become just the second Reds trio to have 20 or more homers at the All-Star break since 1970, when Perez had 29, Bench 28 and Lee May 20.

None of the three have been approached by Major League Baseball about participating in this year’s derby, they said. Votto said he’d only participate if he made the All-Star team. Duvall said he’d consider participating if he wasn’t an All-Star and Schebler said if asked, he’d do it regardless.

Last year, neither of the finalists, Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins or Frazier, were All-Stars.

“That's a tough one,” said Duvall, an All-Star a year ago. “It is something that's related to being an All-Star, I think. But I think I would consider it.”

Schebler said he’s participated in minor-league home run derbies and enjoyed the experience. To do it in the big leagues?

“That'd be freakin' awesome,” Schebler said. “That's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but it's not something that goes through my head on a regular basis, I've got a lot of other things to worry about other than that.”