CINCINNATI — First baseman Joey Votto will be out for the rest of the 2022 season after announcing his surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff.
"On Friday, I'm going to have surgery for my shoulder," Votto said. "I have a rotator cuff tear. I don't know how to explain it, like what exactly happened, but it's been lingering for a while and I've had a difficult time with it."
Votto said he injured his rotator cuff in 2015 and has been able to play through it, but began feeling pain in the past three or four months. He said he tried to train through it, but "it didn't work."
"I'm not going to make an excuse, I'm not going to say it affected my performance, I don't know if it did or not — I can't say," Votto said. "I got an MRI about 10 days ago ... and for me to take the step of getting an MRI, I've played through lots of different stuff and I was motivated to get an MRI because of the pain, because of the interruption of my sleep, because it's difficult to lift my arm."
The six-time All-Star has posted the worst batting average of his major league career this season, hitting .205 with 41 runs batted in through 91 games.
Recovery time varies by the size of the tear, but Votto said he was told it would take around six months to get back to normal health. The Reds said Friday Votto's surgery was successful and the team expects him to participate in spring training for the 2023 season.
Reds fan Eric Gerber said he was surprised to hear of Votto needing surgery.
"The first thing I said to our entire group was Joey Votto wasn’t playing. I’ve been to 100 Reds games. I’ve never not seen Joey Votto play baseball," Gerber said. "We got the win today which is great, but without Joey, it’s a little lackluster.”
Other fans, like Jeff Humbert, said they’re hopeful for a quick bounce back for the veteran first baseman.
"I feel like he’s dealt with injuries before. He does pretty well coming back," Humbert said. "Despite his age, I think he’ll be fine."
Gerber said he is excited to see the team’s young stars take to the field in the last few months of the 2022 season in Votto's, and other stars', absence.
