Comparison of Bryce Harper and Paul Goldschmidt with Joey Votto Since All-Star Break

By Neil Munro
Canadian Baseball Network
Canada’s (and Cincinnati’s) Joey Votto has been on a batting rampage since the All-Star Break, batting at a .393 clip since action resumed after the 2015 All-Star game. Going into the break, Votto was well behind the leading National League MVP candidates, Arizona Diamondbacks’ Paul Goldschmidt and Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper in all batting categories, but especially in the most important stats of on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS (on-base plus slugging). In mid-July, Votto worked on correcting a small flaw in his batting stroke and he has been feeding off of NL pitchers since then.

In the six weeks of action since the break, Votto has passed both Goldschmidt and Harper in bases on balls (he now has a comfortable major league leading 103 BB) and has passed Goldschmidt in OBP. In that period of time, Votto has an OBP of .567, a slugging percentage of .735, which adds up to an OPS of 1.302. 

It is interesting to observe that the steroid-free single season OBP record is the .553 mark set by Ted Williams in 1941 (the last season in which a major league player batted .400 for the year). Just for the record, Barry Bonds holds the top two season best figures of .609 (in 2004) and .582 (in 2002).

Even if he continues at his current torrid pace, Votto will almost certainly finish well back of Harper and Goldschmidt in the final MVP vote for 2015 (it doesn’t help that Cincinnati pulled the plug on the team and unloaded its best pitchers at the trading deadline and will finish near the bottom in league standings). Votto lead the NL in on-base percentage four years in a row between 2010 (his MVP year) and 2013. His streak was cut short last year when he was hampered by severe injuries. It will be interesting to see if he can overtake Harper in the last quarter of the year to regain the OBP league title. 

Current Season Batting Totals
(Through Aug. 24, 2015)
Player G AB H TB HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS
Joey Votto 121 427 132 236 24 103 .309 .446 .553 .998

Paul Goldschmidt 123 444 145 249 24 95 .327 .442 .561 1.003

Bryce Harper 116 400 132 256 31 90 .330 .455 .640 1.095

Totals Up To The All-Star Break (Through July 12, 2015)

Player G AB H TB HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS
Joey Votto 85 310 86 150 15 57 .277 .392 .484 .876

Paul Goldschmidt 87 315 107 192 21 68 .340 .455 .610 1.064

Bryce Harper 81 277 94 195 26 63 .339 .464 .704 1.168

Statistical Totals Since the All-Star Break (July 17 to August 24, 2015)
Player G AB H TB HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS
Joey Votto 36 117 46 86 9 46 .393 .567 .735 1.302

Paul Goldschmidt 36 129 38 57 3 27 .295 .414 .442 .855

Bryce Harper 35 123 38 61 5 27 .309 .434 .496 .930