Votto, Cueto, Heisey receive MLB.com awards

Another big season has earned first baseman Joey Votto the Reds' Performer of the Year Award, as selected by MLB.com.

Votto, the reigning National League MVP, batted .309 with 29 home runs and 103 RBIs in his second straight All-Star season. He led the NL with 110 walks, 40 doubles and a .416 on-base percentage, and set career highs for games played (161) and plate appearances (719).

It's the kind of "down year" most players dream of. Votto was coming off a 2010 in which he hit 15 points higher, drove in 10 more runs and hit eight more homers. Most importantly, the Reds won the NL Central in '10. In '11, they finished third, 17 games behind the first-place Brewers.

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"It was a very challenging year for me in a lot of different ways," Votto said. "But I generally feel I got better. I did more with less."

As selected by MLB.com, awards have been designated in three categories -- Pitcher, Performer and Breakout Player -- for each of the 30 teams. Also honored was MLB.com's Reds Pitcher of the Year, Johnny Cueto, who was sidelined at the start of the season by shoulder inflammation and at the end of the season by a strained lat muscle. The latter flareup cost Cueto a shot at the NL ERA title -- he needed only six more innings to qualify.

Instead, Cueto settled for a 9-5 record with a 2.31 ERA in 156 innings. He pitched three of the Reds' four complete games (Bronson Arroyo had the other), and his 1.090 WHIP was best in their starting rotation.

"Hopefully, next year, he can be a 200-innings guy," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "It's a good feeling when you have Johnny Cueto every fifth day. The team feels confident. I can manage a little differently the day before knowing he's going to go deep in games and I probably won't use my bullpen. That's huge."

The Reds' Breakout Player was Chris Heisey, the 26-year-old who batted .254 with 18 homers and 50 RBIs in 120 games, including 54 starts in the outfield.

The list of other Reds award winners was led by second baseman Brandon Phillips, who became the first Cincinnati second baseman to win a Silver Slugger Award since it was introduced in 1980, and the first Reds player to win a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger in the same season since shortstop Barry Larkin in 1996.

Votto also won a Gold Glove Award at first base and thanked Reds bench coach Chris Speier in a statement.

Phillips was asked to rank the honors, and he didn't hesitate: Silver Slugger first, Gold Glove second.

"Winning the Silver Slugger is probably one of the biggest things that's ever happened to me," he said.

Phillips led NL second basemen with a .300 batting average, 183 hits, 279 total bases, 94 runs scored and 38 doubles. He finished tied for fourth in homers (18) and second in OPS (.810). Only Pittsburgh's Neil Walker had more RBIs (83 to 82), and only the Dodgers' Jamey Carroll had a better on-base percentage (.359 to .353).

Phillips joked that he made room at home for the Gold Glove Award, but did not plan ahead for the Silver Slugger. He'd like to add one more piece of hardware before his career is over.

"I'm still on a mission," he said. "I want a ring now. ... Seeing the Cardinals win it on TV, it hurt my heart a little bit."