Former Cincinnati Reds star first baseman Joey Votto announced Wednesday that he will retire after a 17-year professional career. The Toronto native has spent the last year in the Blue Jays’ minor league system, where his hopes of playing for his hometown team were dashed by injuries.

In typically direct fashion, Votto made his retirement announcement in a Buffalo parking lot, ending his run with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. He then drove from Buffalo to Toronto, where the Reds were playing the Blue Jays, in order to say goodbye to some of his former teammates.

“That’s it. I’m done. I am officially retired from baseball,” Votto said before making his trek to Canada.

In the Instagram caption beneath his brief announcement, Votto took the time to thank countless friends and families for supporting him in his MLB pursuits. He also delivered a message to those who watched along.

“Finally, to the MLB fans. You energized me with your cheers, I loved the boos, the trash talk, the moments where I broke a road cities moment, or was humbled on stage,” Votto said.

Since his 2007 debut, Votto has cemented himself as one of the most efficient hitters in modern baseball. Amassing 2,135 hits and 356 home runs, the six-time All-Star spent most of his career batting above .300. He earned N.L. MVP honors in 2010, when he hit for a .324 average with 37 homers.

Because the Reds struggled for most of Votto’s tenure with the team, his playoff accolades are minimal. It is a testament, then, to his personal achievements that he is generally considered a presumptive Hall-of-Famer, an honor for which he will become eligible in 2029.

After nearly two decades of elite baseball, it is hard to imagine the league without Votto, a technical hitter in an increasingly free-swinging league. Votto is revered around the league for his frank manner of speech and unflinching plate discipline, and will be for years to come. The only time he was ever booed was as a fearsome opponent.

“I’ll never forget, early in my career, my first time at Wrigley Field and the crowd standing and cheering toward my failure,” Votto said. “I remember standing at the plate, smiling and thinking, this is my home. I belong here.”

In the top of the ninth inning in a practically lost game, Yankees center fielder Trent Grisham sent every high school baseball coach in the country into a hysterical frenzy. The six-year veteran lazily tried to field a soft line drive, bobbled it and allowed Reds batter Spencer Steer to get to second base.

It was a fitting end to an 8-4 Yankees loss and a three-game series sweep for the Reds. Grisham, who is batting .157 in 83 at-bats this year, is, unfortunately, the least of this team’s problems at the moment. New York is now 54-35 and 2.5 games behind the Orioles in the A.L. East division.

The Yankees were in free fall a week ago, so it’s difficult to assess where they are now. The problems are exactly the same, making it unclear whether the team is still falling or if they’ve settled into a general malaise.

Juan Soto was typically brilliant against Cincinnati Thursday, hitting a two-run home run to get the Yankees within one in the fifth inning. Aaron Judge had a quiet day, going 0-for-4, but the slugger still leads MLB with an astounding 32 home runs before the All-Star Break.

As a small silver lining, rookie first baseman Ben Rice hit his first home run against Cincinnati, providing some much-needed pop in a largely anemic offense. That’s where the praise ends, however. The Yankees are categorically failing to live up to the immense record they’ve earned up to this point in the season.

Marcus Stroman is firmly one of many Yankees starters that have lost their touch this summer and allowed five runs in five innings against the Reds Thursday. He has allowed three or more runs in four straight starts and has only gone six innings or longer once since June 1.

To view this rough stretch in its totality, New York has lost 14 of its last 19 games, regressing in every area after a 49-22 start to the season. Gerrit Cole has returned but struggled, while the team lost consistent contributors like Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton to new injuries.

If not for a pedestrian couple of weeks for the Baltimore Orioles, the Yankees would be well out of the divisional race at this point based on their performance. For now, their Wild Card spot is still secure, but even that is slowly slipping away as other teams like the Astros, Red Sox and Royals begin to rally.

Opening Day for Major League Baseball is rapidly approaching. With this in mind, it is the perfect time to look at each team’s predictions for the 2021 season, following 2020’s 60-game shortened campaign.

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The Cincinnati Reds took advantage of the COVID-19 shortened season and made the playoffs after six straight losing seasons. The Reds have a total of five World Series titles across the team’s 139-year history. The team’s success can be attributed to having the league’s seventh-best ERA in 2020 with a 3.84 ERA and the seventh-most home runs with a total of 90 homers. With how things stand, the Reds would have to get lucky to make the postseason again in 2021.

Here are Cincinnati’s projected starters.

Cincinnati Reds Projected Batting Order:

1. OF Nick Senzel
2. 1B Joey Votto
3. OF Nick Castellanos 
4. 2B Mike Moustakas
5. 3B Eugenio Suarez
6. OF Jesse Winker 
7. C Tyler Stephenson 
8. OF Shogo Akiyama
9. Pitcher

Cincinnati Reds Projected Pitching Staff:

• SP1 Luis Castillo
• SP2 Sonny Gray
• SP3 Tyler Mahle
• SP4 Wade Miley
• SP5 Michael Lorenzen
• CL Amir Garrett 

Cincinnati Reds Team Outlook:

During the offseason, the Reds lost starter Trevor Bauer and failed to re-sign Freddy Galvis, reliever Archie Bradley, and right-hander Anthony DeSclafani. Despite the losses, Cincy did make some additions and picked up relievers Sean Doolittle, Noe Ramirez, and starting pitcher Jeff Hoffman. Regarding the starting rotation, Sonny Gray, Luis Castillo, and Tyler Mahle are solid and offer upside, but the backend of the rotation isn’t as promising.

Considering the team’s offense, the Reds have three power bats in outfielder Nick Castellanos, third baseman Eugenio Suarez and second baseman Mike Moustakas. For the Reds to make the playoffs, everything would have to go right. Odds are, they will reach .500 if their offense plays well. But at the end of the day, the Reds need to acquire one more starter to finish higher in the National League Central division.

Cincinnati Reds Schedule:

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In Game 1 of the Detroit Tigers series against the Reds, relief pitcher Tyler Alexander took the mound and struck out all nine batters that he faced. This ties the AL record and is one short of Tom Seaver’s all-time record of 10,

For reference here is the entire list of pitchers to retire nine straight batters:

1. Tom Seaver, Mets vs. Padres: April 22, 1970 (10 straight)
2. Ricky Nolasco, Marlins vs. Braves: Sept. 30, 2009 (9 straight)
3. Aaron Harang, Dodgers vs. Padres: April 13, 2012 (9 straight)
4. Doug Fister, Tigers vs. Royals: Sept. 27, 2012 (9 straight)
5. Tyler Alexander, Tigers vs. Reds: Aug. 2, 2020 (9 straight)

Alexander failed to make it to 10 when he hit Mike Moustakas with a pitch, but the twenty-six year-old lefty who is not necessarily known for his strikeouts will have his name indelibly etched in the record books for this performance.