I saw this image on Twitter today (HT Joel Luckhaupt).

What you’re looking at is Joey Votto’s heat map during his 14-game hitting streak. The player on the left represents Votto, and the white outlined square represents the strike zone.

See all that red? That’s where Votto’s been getting most of his hits. He’s batting more than .500 on pitches he hits in that area. That’s an amazing coverage.

So the moral of this image is: if you want to prevent Joey Votto from getting a hit, walk him, or hope that you can find that upper-strike zone wiggle room for your fastball.

Dang, I enjoy having him on the Reds.

As RHM mentioned yesterday, Scott Rolen has started taking batting practice again and is apparently weeks, if not days, away from returning to major league action. And that has Redleg Nation worried.

Announcers Jim Kelch and Jeff Brantley turned to the news that Scott Rolen had taken batting practice earlier in the day. We’re looking at days now, rather than weeks. Great! Right? I love watching Scott Rolen play baseball. Shouldn’t I be looking forward to his return?

All reasonable fans of the Cincinnati Reds understand and appreciate how much Rolen has done for this team. He’s a good guy, and without him, the Reds would not have won the division in 2010. No bout adoubt it. He willed the team into believing it could win. Bt not in that annoying, St. Louis Cardinals way. In a fun way, because it’s a team we like.

But Rolen hasn’t been that player since 2010. And Redleg Nation is right. There’s reason to dread the return of Scott Rolen, and that reason is Dusty Baker. Todd Frazier has won the third base starting job. The stats this year bear that out. But we all know how Baker will use Rolen and Frazier. Rolen’s the veteran, after all.

But as Kelch and Brantley began to discuss Rolen’s return, a feeling of queasiness crept through me. They didn’t seem to consider, even for a second, that Frazier should continue to start at third base for the Reds. Instead, they talked about how he would be perfectly suited to replace Rolen on the veteran’s regular days off. Were they kidding?

It doesn’t matter what announcers (or bloggers) think. But, if Kelch and Brantley don’t see Frazier as having earned the 3B job then, to a moral certainty, neither does Dusty Baker. And unfortunately, it does matter what he thinks.

It definitely does. Baker’s a player’s manager and will stand by guys he thinks deserve it long past the time their performance tells everyone else they don’t. I like Rolen, and I’d love nothing more than for him to come back and contribute like he did in 2010. I’ve got to, for the Reds’ chances in 2012 are likely to hinge on him.

Early tallies are out for the National League All-Star voting, and it shouldn’t be any surprise that Joey Votto is at the top of the heap. Even if there weren’t a sudden vacuum of first basemen in the NL, Votto blow ’em all out of the water anyway.

Brandon Phillips, though also obviously the best in the NL at his position, is behind Dan Uggla. Surely we can do something about that. Jay Bruce has the disadvantage of being lumped in the all-encompassing “outfield” category, but he still ought to be higher than ninth.

Add your voice! You can vote up to 25 times per email address by going to the MLB website. And don’t forget to stuff the ballot boxes when you go to the park.

Tallies as of June 5, 2012:

FIRST BASE

• Joey Votto, Reds: 1,314,516
• Lance Berkman, Cardinals: 634,473
• Freddie Freeman, Braves: 576,255
• Bryan LaHair, Cubs: 391,497
• Adam LaRoche, Nationals: 331,772

SECOND BASE

• Dan Uggla, Braves: 872,136
• Brandon Phillips, Reds: 586,835
• Omar Infante, Marlins: 512,049
• Rickie Weeks, Brewers: 512,021
• Jose Altuve, Astros: 472,292

OUTFIELDERS

• Matt Kemp, Dodgers: 1,952,910
• Carlos Beltran, Cardinals: 1,212,030
• Ryan Braun, Brewers: 1,112,971
• Andre Ethier, Dodgers: 827,262
• Melky Cabrera, Giants: 714,642
• Matt Holliday, Cardinals: 667,544
• Jason Heyward, Braves: 515,340
• Michael Bourn, Braves: 498,070
• Jay Bruce, Reds: 460,853
• Andrew McCutchen, Pirates: 457,223
• Hunter Pence, Phillies: 446,460
• Corey Hart, Brewers: 417,929
• Carlos Gonzalez, Rockies: 386,860
• Jon Jay, Cardinals: 373,833
• Shane Victorino, Phillies: 373,034

To see the tallies for the other positions, you can go to this story on MLB.com and scroll all the way to the bottom.

Yesterday was the first day of the First-Year Player Draft. The Reds had the 14th, 49th, and 57th picks yesterday. Now they have until 5 p.m. ET on July 13 to sign these guys.

14th – Nick Travieso
Right-handed pitcher
Age: 18 HT: 6’2″ WT: 215 lbs
Archbishop McCarthy High School, Southwest Rances FL
Travieso is a bit of a flamethrower and has topped out at 99 MPH.

49th – Jesse Winker
Corner outfielder; bats left; throws left
Age: 18 HT: 6’3″ WT: 200 lbs
Olympia High School, Orlando FL
.488 AVG, 3 HR, 30 RBI in 30 games, toolsy

57th – Jeff Gelalich
Corner outfielder; bats left; throws right
Age: 27 HT: 6’1″ WT: 205
UCLA
.372 AVG, 11 HR, 46 RBI and .462 OBP in 59 games, base-stealing threat

The draft continues today and Wednesday. The Reds still have the 78th, 109th, and 142nd picks ahead of them.