Rooting for round numbers with the last-place 2022 Cincinnati Reds

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty ImagesThrough the darkest of days during the 2016 Cincinnati Reds season, there was at least the chance to tune-in daily to watch teams aggressively pitch around Joey Votto. He’d get a pitch or two a game within the confines of the strike zone, he’d sock one of them, and by the time September rolled around we had his own personal successes to root for while the club itself fell by the wayside.

Would he win a batting title? How high would that OBP go? Could he sock 30 homers like Adam Duvall, or drive in a hundred? Would his OPS begin with a 1, and would he lead the league in that yet again?

That year, one of the dismal 90+ loss seasons from the most recent rebuild…