Because he works at it. This is an incredible Insider article
Votto’s growth was subsequently aided by a controversial decision by then-Reds GM Dan O’Brien. The boss noticed that many young players took a swing-first, think-later approach to the plate. So he ordered players at the Rookie and Class-A levels not to swing until they had taken a strike, to help them learn to identify what was being thrown. Most players, including Votto, despised the mandate. And in 2005, while at Class-A Sarasota, he had a ghastly .590 OPS against lefties, who could jump ahead in the count, then throw troublesome breaking balls. Yet because of O’Brien’s rule, Votto soon adjusted to the off-speed stuff. “I relaxed and learned to hit the breaking ball,” he says. “As much as I’d like to say it was a bad idea by the organization, I think it helped me as a hitter.” And almost as soon as he learned to identify off-speed pitches, Votto learned to hit them to the opposite field.
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