Reds have found a budding star in Aristides Aquino
Aristides Aquino put himself in the record book on Saturday night, and early in his run the Cincinnati Reds have discovered a budding star.
Aristides Aquino had one plate appearance for the Cincinnati Reds last year, and he struck out in it. He is outside the top-30 prospects in the Reds’ minor league system, as ranked by MLB.com, but his run at Triple-A this year (.299/.356/.636 slash-line, 28 home runs, 53 RBI) seemed to put him on the radar for a big league call-up before too long.
Last week’s trade of Yasiel Puig to the Cleveland Indians opened up that opportunity. Aquino entered Saturday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs hitting .417 with a 1.398 OPS, four home runs and 10 RBI over eight games (25 plate appearances) since being promoted. That included a three-game home run streak, and on Saturday night he took things to another level while making it four in a row
Aquino homered in his first three at-bats of the game, and in three consecutive innings for that matter, twice off Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks and once off reliever Dillon Maples.
There is a reason they call him "The Punisher."
— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) August 10, 2019
Aristides Aquino has been feasting on major league pitching.pic.twitter.com/5pAdZT4Lgi
Punisher gonna punish #NotAReplaypic.twitter.com/FPRDYyTsyk
— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) August 11, 2019
He's done it again! Third time is the charm for The Punisher. pic.twitter.com/yzSKl27prB
— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) August 11, 2019
When you find out Aristides Aquino's third home run of the night traveled 452 feet pic.twitter.com/jAfSStBDR5
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) August 11, 2019
Aquino became the 17th player with a three home run game this season, and the second Red (Derek Dietrich). The trio of dingers also gave him seven since his promotion, as he also tied the record set by Colorado Rockies shortstop Trevor Story for home runs through their first 10 major league games. And that’s not the only statistical history Aquino now has to himself, or a piece of.
https://twitter.com/MLBStats/status/1160350052109492225?s=20
Aristides Aquino has hit 3 HR in his 10th career game.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 11, 2019
He's just the 2nd player in MLB history with a 3-HR game within his first 10 career games, joining Bobby Estalella, who also did it in his 10th career game on Sept. 4, 1997
h/t @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/2WdikD4tOH
Aristides Aquino homered in the second, third, and fourth innings versus the Cubs on Saturday, becoming the first player in @Reds history, as well as the first rookie player on any @MLB team, to hit a home run in three consecutive innings within a single game. #BornToBaseball
— Elias Sports Bureau (@EliasSports) August 11, 2019
Aquino is not only hitting home runs at a historic rate, he’s punishing them when he hit them (hence the appropriate nickname, “The Punisher”). His home run on Thursday night left Great American Ballpark in a hurry, backed by Statcast.
Reds rookie Aristides Aquino hit a 118.3 mph HR. That's tied for the hardest HR in MLB this year.
— David Adler (@_dadler) August 9, 2019
The only other players since Statcast's intro to hit a HR that hard: Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Pete Alonso. pic.twitter.com/QCL8x56szz
https://twitter.com/DingerTracker/status/1159618682416521216?s=20
Next. 5 teams who could make offseason trade for Mookie Betts. dark
At 25 years old, and with only that one big league plate appearances above Double-A entering this season, Aquino is pretty much at the age where he cannot be labeled a prospect anymore. It’s possible he’s just a bit of a late bloomer though, and the Reds seem to have discovered a player who has real future staying power.