Bryce Harper’s tube-to-mouth toothbrushing technique has been the baseball internet’s favorite sideshow for a week. The Padres trolled him with it on the videoboard. The American Dental Association issued a formal rebuke. Jomboy Media racked up 2.7 million views. And then NBC’s broadcast crew decided to drag it into a live game segment — only to find Joey Votto in no mood to play along.
During an NBC MLB broadcast this weekend, the crew aired the Harper toothpaste clip and cut to Votto, the former Cincinnati Reds first baseman now working as a studio analyst for the network. Votto, eyes on a live at-bat, didn’t bite.
“Sorry, I’m too locked in on his at-bat,” Votto said. “I’m not looking at the toothpaste.”
The moment was captured and shared on Bluesky by baseball writer Levi Weaver, who posted the quote and added that he might adopt “I’m not looking at the toothpaste” as a personal catchphrase for any topic he couldn’t care less about. Fair enough. It’s a perfect line — deadpan, dismissive, and delivered with the energy of a man who treats every plate appearance like it’s Game 7.
The toothpaste saga began when Harper posted his morning routine to TikTok — captioned “Moring Y’all” — and revealed that he squeezes toothpaste directly from the tube into his mouth rather than applying it to the brush first. The video surpassed 600,000 followers on the platform and drew reactions ranging from horror to grudging respect. The Padres put it on the Petco Park videoboard as a “fun fact” during Harper’s at-bat Tuesday night: “SQUIRTS TOOTHPASTE INTO HIS MOUTH INSTEAD OF ONTO A TOOTHBRUSH WHEN BRUSHING HIS TEETH.”
Harper, for his part, told Phillies Nation he’s done it forever and was happy the video went viral. The ADA was less amused. Ohio dentist Andrew Zucker, a consumer advisor for the association, said he initially thought Harper was joking. He was not. “The only thing to be lost is just wasting a whole bunch of toothpaste,” Zucker said. Maria Ryan, chief clinical officer at Colgate-Palmolive, flagged a germ-transfer concern but conceded she was “glad he was brushing his teeth.”
Votto’s dismissal of the whole thing fits neatly into his budding broadcasting persona. NBC Sports confirmed in January that Votto would join Clayton Kershaw and Anthony Rizzo as pregame analysts for the MLB Wild Card round and select Sunday Night Baseball broadcasts during the 2026 regular season, working alongside hosts Bob Costas and Ahmed Fareed. Bengals radio announcer Dan Hoard predicted Votto would be “one of the best baseball analysts ever” — “smart, funny, and 100 percent unique.”
The toothpaste segment may not have produced the reaction NBC’s producers were hoping for. But Votto treating a viral oral-hygiene clip like an unwelcome interruption to actual baseball? That’s the kind of instinct you can’t teach. He’s not looking at the toothpaste. He’s looking at the at-bat. And honestly, that’s why you hired him.
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