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    Aristides Aquino (Photo: Doug Gray)
    Photo: Doug Gray

    Reds prospect Aristides Aquino crushes his 18th homer

    Doug Gray 15

    To say that it’s been a turn-around season for Aristides Aquino would be an understatement. In 2018 at the Double-A level he struggled, hitting just .240/.306/.448 in what was his second full season at the level. This season has been just about the complete opposite. And on Sunday he kept that season going for the Louisville Bats, crushing his 18th home run of the season in just his 52nd game played.

     

    While he missed half of April and half of May, he was good in both months. April saw the 25-year-old outfielder hit .286/.345/.633. May was good for a .352/.386/.500 line in 13 games after returning from the injured list. June, though, was a different level of good for Aristides Aquino. Over 24 games played during the month he hit .300/.376/.744 with 12 home runs.

    There’s no question that the move to the Major League baseball being used in Triple-A this year is boosting the power numbers across the league. The isolated power (SLG-AVG) in the International League is up to .182 this season. Last year it was .137. For Aristides Aquino, he’s got an isolated power of .337. It’s just a different level of power that he’s showing than the “normal” boost that the league as a whole is getting.

    Stuart Fairchild keeps going in Double-A

    After a very rough April in Daytona, Stuart Fairchild tore through the Florida State League for the next 7 weeks for the Tortugas. Over 161 plate appearances the outfielder hit .319/.398/.546 with 19 extra-base hits in 38 games played. That earned him a promotion to Double-A where he joined the Chattanooga Lookouts on June 25th.

    Things haven’t slowed down since then, either. Stuart Fairchild homered for the first time in Double-A on Sunday night and he’s now hitting .429/.529/.786 through the first five games with the Lookouts. Even with such a tough April, he’s up to .278/.359/.464 on the season between his two stops.

    Doug Gray
    Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2006 in one variation or another.

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    15 Responses

    2. I see Aquino as the perfect replacement for Puig if he can cut down on the K’s. Never doubted on his power, but it’s his contact rates/BB% that will make or brake his chance at a MLB career.
      How has Fairchild’s defense looks like? Can he handle CF?. The Reds desperately need to develop good OF’s that provide both offense and defense . I’m not entirely sold on Winker. I see him as a Votto replacement down the road in 1B (start giving him reps in there in practices!). Trammel has a down year. So guys like Aquino, Fairchild, Siri and yes Ervin, must step up.

      1. Aquino replaces puig and the team as a whole takes a step back. I’d rather see reds put most competitive team on field as possible vs trying to develop prospects on the major league field. 2020 puig is best corner field option reds have by far

        1. Except the Reds don’t have Puig under contract for 2020. A 3-4 year deal likely costs $50-$80 million. Could offer him the draft tender and only be on the hook for 1 year at around $19 million. Conversely, the hope is someone like Aquino gives you 80-90% of what Puig gives you now, but at $550k and the payroll can be spent elsewhere to improve the team.

        2. My preference is to hope in Aquino rather than spend too much money on Puig, my personal feelings aside.

          Those feelings being that Puig is awesome!

          Extending a QO for a year wouldn’t be a bad move either, would it?

        3. Reds can’t find a free agent to take 15 million a season. So yes if puig doesn’t resign- he will get the qo and most likely have to take it due to state of the market.

    3. That was the easiest swing and power I’ve seen from Aquino. Usually he’s more of an attack hitter, for lack of better (non violent) words. I wonder if this is at all representative of his improvements, or simply just a sign of his natural power.

      2. I can’t say that I’ve ever studied his swing, but I’ve made a point this year of watching the videos that Doug puts up. His swing is a lot more simple than I would have thought. He also looks stronger in his legs now, compare to previous years.

        I don’t know what more he can prove in Louisville, but I also don’t know where he would play in Cincinnati. They are going to have Aquino, VanMeter, Siri, Trammell and maybe Fairchild all getting ready as outfielders (or elsewhere for VanMeter) at about the same time.

        If I’m Winker, and I am not, I make sure to come to spring training next year as fit as I could possibly be.

    4. Aquino has likely earned a promotion at some point this year. Otherwise, I think he can elect minor league free agency this winter.

      If we are still in the playoff picture, PA’s may end up tough to come by as Puig, if healthy, will get the playing time – especially with his playoff experience (part of his coveted value).

      To add Aquino, CIN would have to remove someone from the 40MR. Unless there is an injury that points to moving someone to the DL60 and creating a roster spot, that someone is beginning to look like Schebler. That is a tough decision as Schebler played decent CF defense (bat is a different story).

      Most teams keep 7-8 OF on their 40MR. CIN currently has 7 – including Van Meter (listed as an OF). Tough decision this winter on adding Friedl (I think they will do it).

      The toughest decision this winter relates to options. Ervin is out of options after the season ends. Same with Aquino. Schebler is out of options after the season ends too. Van Meter will have 2 options after the season ends. Siri will have 1.

      Obviously, Winker and Senzel are not going anywhere. That points to 4 of 7 40MR-OF spots in Winker, Senzel, Van Meter and Siri. I think there is a decent chance CIN extends Puig. That would make 5. That means maybe 1 of Ervin, Aquino or Schebler makes the OD roster even though they will not have any options.

      I think we will see some trades in the OF sector to build some depth at AAA with players with options. The alternative is to sign players to minor league contracts – avoiding the 40MR requirement.

      Keep in mind, that someone is keeping a spot warm for Trammell.

    6. If the Reds are serious about acquiring a bat at the deadline I couls see Aquino as a major trade piece. Ervin and May could fill that roll as well.

    7. Aquino was the 2016 Florida State League Player of the Year, so there is that.

      Aquino’s OPS in the minors in pretty comparable to that of Justin Turner, who had a rookie year for the Mets at age 26, but only 8 MLB homers through age 28. Aquino may not ever play much at the next level, but your guess on that isn’t any better than anybody else’s.

    8. Doug, is it common for organizations to not allow minor league players to take part in All-Star games? During the Bats broadcast, I heard them saying Aquino and maybe a few other guys who were named to the team won’t be allowed to take part.

      1. It was VanMeter and Sims that won’t be participating. Aquino, at least as of now, will be. The Reds aren’t the only team handling it this way (assuming it’s their call). But, this does seem to be more of a “guys on the 40-man” thing than anything else. From what I’ve seen of the guys not playing in the Triple-A All-Star game this year, they are all 40-man guys from various organizations.

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