As late as April 25th of last year, Joey Votto owned a very un-Votto .598 OPS. The moment his 3-run homer off Tyler Glasnow touched down some 450 feet from home plate on Tuesday night, his 2017 slugging percentage alone was better than that.
It took Votto a full 52 games in 2016 to finally crack his 9th dinger of the season, yet here he is, age 33, and on an early season power surge that’s been the finest of his incredibly fine career. Back in his MVP season of 2010, it took Votto 39 games to finally hit his 9th homer, and to date that’s the quickest he’s ever reached that number.