If it feels like I’m repeating myself, that’s because I almost am. Another day and another Cincinnati Reds prospect has hit multiple home runs in a game for the Louisville Bats. On Sunday afternoon it was Aristides Aquino’s turn to do it. The outfielder hit his 7th and 8th home runs of the season for Louisville in Sunday’s game against the Norfolk Tides.
There have been more than a few multi-homer games for Louisville this season. And even in the last week there’s been more than a few. On May 27th Brian O’Grady hit two against Toledo. On May 29th Phillip Ervin hit two against Durham. On May 30th Ervin hit two more against Durham. On June 1st it was Nick Longhi who hit two home runs against Norfolk. Five games with a Louisville player hitting two home runs in a game within the span of a week.
For Aristides Aquino, Sunday’s outburst pushed his season total to eight home runs. When looking at the league leaders, that doesn’t seem like much – but Aquino missed a month of the season with a shoulder injury. He’s also racked up seven doubles – giving him 15 extra-base hits in just 29 games. He’s currently hitting .330/.379/.623 on the season.
Miguel Hernandez hits his first homer of the year
It’s been quite a while since Miguel Hernandez last homered. In 2018 he spent almost his entire season in Greeneville, with a late call up to join the Billings Mustangs in the final week of the season. That season he had two home runs with the last coming on August 16th. Entering Sunday he hadn’t homered for Dayton on the year. He was the only hitter with more than 27 at-bats to not have homered for the Dragons. He was leading the team with 172. That all changed in the 4th inning when he went deep to right-center for a 3-run homer.
One thing that’s been interesting this season with Hernandez is that I feel like the ball has carried a bit more off of the bat than I’ve expected. That sounds like a strange statement given that he had not homered yet this season until Sunday, I know, but he’s hit more than a few balls that off of the bat seemed routine, only to make it to the warning track over the outfielders head. While he’s probably not ever going to be a power hitter, as his body matures and he gets stronger, some more over-the-fence power is going to start showing up.