Why the Reds are giving Aristides Aquino one more shot
Why don't they just try him on the mound already?
Nearly four years ago, Aristides Aquino’s career was at a crossroads. Signed as a 16-year-old in 2011, he flashed raw tools that made scouts drool, but he’s never been able to put it all together. He hit .216/.282/.397 in Double-A in 2017, then followed that up with a slash line of just .240/.306/.448 as a 24-year-old at the same level. After that 2018 season, the Cincinnati Reds non-tendered Aquino and dropped him from the 40-man roster, making him a free agent.
Shortly thereafter, Aquino signed a minor league contract with the Reds and set to work improving his game. Working with Reds coaches, he entered the season with a completely redesigned open stance. “I changed my stance so I could be better at recognizing the pitches,” Aquino explained. “That helped me to have more balance and see better pitches. I’ve got better balance in my body.”
It worked. Aquino hit .360 in spring training, then he took Triple-A Louisville by storm, hitting .299/.356/.636 (a 143 wRC+) with 28 homers. Then, when he got a chance at big league pitching, Aquino had a month that cemented him in Reds history forever. He hit his first homer in his third game, and just didn’t stop. In his second week as a big leaguer, Aquino hit home runs in four consecutive games, including one game in which he hit three bombs in consecutive innings. One of those homers had an exit velocity of 118.3 mph; that’s still the hardest-hit ball by a Red that’s ever been recorded (dating back to just 2015).
Aquino was the first player in MLB history to hit 10 homers in his first 16 games; he finished the month with 14 home runs. No rookie has ever hit that many in a month. When the dust settled, he finished August hitting .321/.391/.767. Not surprisingly, he was named NL Player of the Month.
Fast forward to 2022. After two sub-par seasons, Aquino, now 28, was designated for assignment by the Reds at the end of April. He’d just gone hitless in 25 straight at-bats, batting .049 with one homer in 15 games and striking out in 23 of his 41 at-bats. No other team in baseball claimed him, so Aquino was outrighted back to Triple-A.
This month, after going back and forth a couple of times between Louisville and Cincinnati, Aquino returned to the big leagues as the starting right fielder for the Reds, thanks to the trade deadline fire sale overseen by GM Nick Krall. For the rest of the season, he’ll get yet another chance to prove that he belongs in the big leagues. Why does Aquino keep getting chances?
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The Riverfront: A Cincinnati Reds Show
Two episodes of the show this week! First, I got together with filmmaker Cam Miller to discuss his latest documentary, "Riverfront Remembered." The film debuts on September 9 at the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. It's a loving portrait of Riverfront Stadium, that beauty down by the river that enchanted so many of us over the years, and was the site of some great Reds baseball.
We talked about the film, Riverfront Stadium’s legacy in Cincinnati history, and about the nostalgia for the stadium that still exists. You can see the trailer for "Riverfront Remembered" here. And here’s my discussion with Cam:
We also talked about the 2022 Cincinnati Reds this week; Nate and I discussed which of the current Reds will be on the next good Cincinnati Reds team, what to make of Jake Fraley's continued hot hitting, and we even had an update on the Bengals.
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