Cincinnati Reds: the Aristides Aquino encore will be better than act one

After tearing onto the scene last year Aristides Aquino is primed to exceed his 2019 performance as soon as players are allowed back on the field.

Eleven games into the 2019 season, Aristides Aquino was hitting .429 with eight home runs. He had quickly established himself as the National League’s version of Yordan Alvarez. He set the all-time record for home runs in a month by a rookie with the 14 he crushed last August.

As the summer months turned to fall Aquino’s bat cooled with the temperature. When the games get ramped up again, the bat will not be far behind, however.

Signed as a seventeen-year-old out of the Dominican Republic, Aquino spent eight years working his way through the Cincinnati Reds minor league system. As a young man, he had no power and struggled to hit for a respectable average.

As he progressed through the system and matured as a hitter, he began to stroke the ball nicely, beginning to tally some home run numbers along the way.

At 6-4, 220 pounds, Aquino isn’t hard to find in a crowd and finally, the Reds noticed what he was doing at the AAA level and promoted him to the majors.

He finished his first season with 19 home runs and a .259 batting average. He struck out too much for the Reds liking, though don’t all power hitters seem to overswing on occasion. Half of Aquino’s hits with the Reds were of the extra base variety and he drove in 47 runs in just 56 games.

In the offseason, the Reds went out and purchased some lineup protection in Mike Moustakas and Nick Castellanos. Alongside Joey Votto, the batting order will have a lot of tough outs, and give plenty of opportunities for Aquino to duplicate his numbers from a year ago.

The poise and confidence Aquino takes into each at-bat say a lot about where his overall game is headed. Pitchers at the highest level have a tendency to figure out the weaknesses of hitters, though the more Aquino familiarizes himself with big league pitchers the more comfortable he’ll be hitting them.

There will be a lot to cheer for once the season begins in Cincinnati, and the hitting exploits of Aristides Aquino will have a lot to do with it.