Dayton Dragons: Joey Votto tops list of 10 best players in franchise history

The Dayton Dragons have sent 149 players to the big leagues since their debut in 2000.

From pitcher Brian Reith, who pitched for the Dragons in their first season in 2000 and debuted with the Cincinnati Reds in 2001, to pitcher Rhett Lowder, who debuted for the Reds in 2024 after starting the season with Single-A Dayton, the long list includes a former National League MVP, a slugger who ranks in the top 40 in baseball history in home runs and a stolen base champion.

Here’s a ranking of the 10 best players to come through Dayton. The list judges them on their big-league careers and not their numbers in Dayton.

Credit: David Jablonski/Staff

Credit: David Jablonski/Staff

1. Joey Votto: Picking the greatest player to wear a Dayton Dragons uniform as the franchise celebrates its 25th season was an easy choice.

Joey Votto played 60 games with the Dragons in 2003, their fourth season, and then 111 games the following season. He built the foundation of a career that should land him in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Votto spent six seasons in the Reds minor league system before a 17-year run with the Cincinnati Reds.

Votto’s first season in Dayton did not go as expected. He hit .269 the previous season with the Gulf Coast League Reds and then hit .231 with the Dragons. The Reds demoted him to the Billings Mustangs for the second half of the season. He hit .317 there.

“Nobody wants to be sent down,” Votto said at the time, “but nobody wants to see a baseball card with a failed season on the back. It was great at Billings. Who wouldn’t want a new start?”

Votto returned to the Dragons in 2004 and hit .302. He was promoted to the High-A Potomac Cannons in August. From there, he made a steady climb to the big leagues. He spent his entire big-league career with the Reds, winning the National League MVP award in 2010. He ranks second in franchise history in home runs (356), fifth in hits (2,135) and first in walks (1,365).

Credit: Contributed photo

2. Edwin Encarnación: He played nine games for Dayton in 2001 and spent the entire 2002 season with the Dragons, hitting .282 with 17 home runs and 73 RBIs. Encarnación made his Reds debut in 2005 and played in Cincinnati until 2009 when the Reds traded him to the Toronto Blue Jays in a deal that brought Scott Rolen to Cincinnati. Encarnacion hit 424 home runs in a 16-year career that ended in 2020. He’ll be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2026.

Credit: AP

3. Justin Turner: The greatest Dragon who never played for the Reds, Turner hit .311 with 10 home runs and 59 RBIs for the Dragons in 2007. He was traded to the Orioles in a deal that brought catcher Ramón Hernández to the Reds in 2008. In a 17-year career, he has hit .285 with 198 home runs and 815 RBIs. He’s now playing for the Chicago Cubs.

4. Adam Dunn: He hit .279 with 16 home runs and 79 RBIs for the first Dragons team in 2000. He set a Dragons record that still stands with 100 walks and a .428 on-base percentage. In a 14-year big-league career (2001-14), including eight seasons in Cincinnati, Dunn hit .237 with 424 home runs and 1,168 RBIs.

Credit: Marcus Hartman

5. Johnny Cueto: He was 8-1 with a 2.59 ERA in 14 starts with the Dragons in 2006. Cueto spent eight seasons in Cincinnati. He was an All-Star in 2014 with the Reds and 2016 with the Kansas City Royals. He last pitched in the big leagues in 2024 and has a career record of 144-113 with an ERA of 3.52 in 17 seasons.

6. Jay Bruce: He hit .291 with 16 home runs and 81 RBIs with the Dragons in 2006. Bruce played nine of his 14 seasons in the big leagues with the Reds. He hit .244 with 319 home runs and 951 RBIs in his career (2008-21).

7. Todd Frazier: He played six games with the Dragons in 2007 and 30 in 2008, when he hit .321 with 20 RBIs. He was an All-Star with the Reds in 2014 and 2015. In an 11-year big-league career (2011-21), he hit .241 with 218 home runs and 640 RBIs.

8. Austin Kearns: He delivered one of the great single-season performances in Dragons history in 2000, leading the team with a .306 average, 104 RBIs and 27 home runs. He set a franchise record that still stands by scoring 110 runs. Only Wily Mo Pena (113 RBIs in 2001) drove in more runs in a Dragons uniform. Samone Peters hit 28 home runs to set the Dragons single-season home run record. Kearns spent 12 seasons (2002-13) in the big leagues, hitting .253 with 121 home runs and 494 RBIs.

9. Homer Bailey: He was 8-4 with a 4.43 ERA for the Dragons in 2005. In a 14-year big-league career (2007-20), he was 81-86 with a 4.56 ERA.

10. Elly De La Cruz: The third-year Reds shortstop likely will be higher on this list if it’s redone on the Dragons’ 30th anniversary. He hit .303 with 20 home runs and 52 RBIs in 2022 with the Dragons. In three seasons with the Reds, he’s hitting .252 with 40 home runs and 128 RBIs.