Votto has always been a handsome man

Joey Votto is pretty darn good.

Votto is now hitting .538 with two homers and seven RBI’s after a 8-6 win yesterday over the Mets.  Bullpen was stellar again with Arthur Rhodes, Stormy Weathers, and CoCo Cordero going 2 2/3 innings of shutout ball.  GREAT news for Reds fans to see Cordero smoke the Mets by striking out the side.

Edwin Encarnacion finally graced us with his offensive presence, now hitting a robust .143.  For the Reds to have any success this year, Edwin has to hit with some kind of consistency.  Period.

The Taveras factor has been felt already.  The guy can absolutely motor around the bases (his triple on Wednesday night was amazing) and if he can get on base at a .340 clip (better than his .308 OBP last year), look out.

The Pirates are in town for a three-game weekend set, with the Bucs Jeff Karstens taking on Johnny Cueto.  Karstens just squeaked into the final rotation spot, so hopefully the Reds can jump on him early and often tonight.

To get the Beat the Bucs weekend started…the greatest movie moment to devastate Pirates fans around the world…