CINCINNATI --- The daily grind of a 162-game season rarely offers players the chance to reflect or take stock of success or failure. But Reds first baseman Joey Votto was afforded that opportunity when he was given a day off on Sunday vs. the Mets, followed by Monday’s scheduled off-day for the team.

Votto saw his streak of seven games in a row with a home run end by inches on Saturday during an extra-innings loss at New York. On Monday, he learned he was the National League Player of the Month. It was his first such award during his 15-season career.

“I was able to look back on some of the swings,” Votto said on Tuesday. “I was happy with the progress I’ve made with a lot of the work I’ve been doing behind the scenes, and more than anything, it’s really fun to see the steadiness pay off -- the work, but most importantly the steadiness -- and sticking to an objective and seeing it show itself in the game. I’m really satisfied with that."

Entering Tuesday, nine of Votto’s last 11 hits were home runs. An infield single on Thursday vs. the Cubs snapped a streak of eight consecutive hits that went for homers -- which was tied for the second-longest such streak since the MLB expansion era began in 1961.

Votto, 37, slashed .319/.440/.734 with 11 homers and 25 RBIs in 26 games last month.

“I talked about being really happy with the direction the ball is coming off my bat. Yeah, I’m happy that I got to have a really good week and obviously being the player of the month, it’s shown itself all month,” Votto said. “Yeah, I’m happy with that.”

India could be rare Reds Rookie of the Year
Reds second baseman Jonathan India was pleased to have been named the NL’s Rookie of the Month award winner on Monday. But he was not overly pleased.

“It’s a good feeling. It’s an honor I’ll definitely remember,” India said. “The personal goals and the awards, they don’t mean as much to me as the team. I want to win. That’s all I want to do is win. But I’m very honored to receive this. Hopefully, I carry it over these next two months and get a bigger award. We’ll see what happens. It’s a great feeling.”

India, 24, entered the night batting .277/.401/.433 with 10 homers and 42 RBIs. He leads all Major League rookies in on-base percentage and walks and all NL rookies in runs scored while ranking second in average, RBIs and OPS. He could become only the third rookie in AL/NL history to lead his league in on-base percentage. It was done previously by Cleveland’s "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (.468) in 1911 and Cincinnati’s Cuckoo Christensen (.426) in 1926.

The Reds have not had a NL Rookie of the Year winner since reliever Scott Williamson in 1999. Their last position player to get the honor was third baseman Chris Sabo in 1988.

“If I play well, the good things will work out,” said India, who batted .319 with four homers in July. “That’s all I know. I can control what I can control. I’m just going to play well and whatever happens, happens. That’s all I think about.”

India was struggling until he was moved to the leadoff spot by manager David Bell on June 5. It proved to be a seminal point as he’s batted .294 with a .429 OBP since.

“This game is hard. I definitely went through it in the beginning,” India said. “I had success at the very beginning and then I just went through it. Everyone goes through that struggle. I’m definitely going to go through it again at some point in my career, so it just happens to players. But I learned a lot. That’s how I think I got through it more. I learned a lot about how the league pitches and how pitchers pitch to me.

“Then the leadoff [switch] definitely got me going, it gave me more confidence, put me in a bigger spot for the team. It definitely drove me to play harder, really dig deep and get out of that slump I was in.”

Lodolo promoted to Louisville
The Reds' No. 1 prospect, left-handed starting pitcher Nick Lodolo, was promoted from Double-A Chattanooga to Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday. The 23-year-old Lodolo, who is the No. 42 prospect overall ranked by MLB Pipeline, was 2-1 with a 1.84 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in 10 starts this season for Chattanooga.

Cincinnati’s first-round selection in the 2019 MLB Draft -- and seventh overall -- will make his Louisville debut on Wednesday at St. Paul.