Joey Votto, once the cornerstone of the Cincinnati Reds, has swapped his glove for a microphone, stepping into the broadcast booth for NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball. His first assignment comes just weeks after a candid conversation on MLB Now with veteran analyst Brian Kenny, where he opened up about the league’s contentious performance‑enhancing drug (PED) chapter.
During that interview, Votto argued that the era’s pervasive use of substances, coupled with flawed testing protocols, makes it unfair to judge those players by today’s standards. He stressed that the stigma attached to the so‑called PED generation is disproportionate, especially when the scientific tools of the 1990s and early 2000s were simply not precise enough to make definitive judgments.
A New Lens on an Old Controversy
Votto also took the opportunity to address recent events within the Reds organization. Current outfielder Noelvi Marte recently tested positive for a banned substance and received an 80‑game suspension, a development that underscores the ongoing relevance of drug policy in the sport. The former first baseman, however, maintains that even if PEDs were available, they would not have substantially altered his own performance trajectory.
The conversation naturally turned to the team’s evolving roster. Votto’s departure marked the end of an era and the rise of a new generation featuring phenoms such as Elly De La Cruz, Hunter Greene, and Sal Stewart. He sees these emerging stars as a reminder that baseball is constantly reinventing itself, and he advocates for a dialogue that begins with the 1990s and extends to today’s innovations.
Ultimately, Votto’s message is clear: the sport should move beyond binary judgments and embrace a more nuanced understanding of its past. By doing so, he believes baseball can honor its history while responsibly shaping its future.