Aristides Aquino was coming off of a season in the Florida State League in 2016 where he won the league MVP. He made big improvements at the plate, especially when it comes to his plate discipline, and it resulted in a big offensive season for the Daytona Tortugas. He also racked up an insane number of outfield assists, throwing out 28 base runners from right field.
After such an outstanding season, unsurprisingly the Cincinnati Reds sent Aristides Aquino to Double-A Pensacola. The first 30 games of the season went about as poorly as possible with the Blue Wahoos. In 118 plate appearances the 23-year-old outfielder hit .148/.212/.259 with six walks and 43 strikeouts. The walk rate was a little bit lower than you would like, but the biggest problems were that his strikeout rate was 36% (you generally want even power hitters to be under 25%) and that the power he’s known for wasn’t showing up.
The jump to Double-A is known to be the toughest jump in the minor leagues. For Aristides Aquino, at least over those first 30 games, that seemed to be the case. However, he’s made big time adjustments over the last 20 games and has turned his season around. Over 85 plate appearances in that span he’s hit .299/.365/.597. That’s come along with eight walks and 17 strikeouts. The walk rate is up. The strikeout rate is down to to 20% in this time frame. And the power. Oh man, the power is really starting to show up, too. In the 20 games played he’s hit four doubles, two triples and five home runs.
30 games. 20 games. Both are the definition of small sample sizes. However, it’s the latter set of games that fit far more in line with the last 14 months we’ve seen from the Dominican Republic native. It’s those first 30 games that stick out like a sore thumb for Aristides Aquino. It was a big struggle early on, but the adjustments have come and the outfielder is now hitting the cover off of the ball for the Blue Wahoos.
Wyatt Strahan returns after Tommy John surgery
Right handed pitcher Wyatt Strahan was activated and sent to join the Daytona Tortugas on Friday. The now 24-year-old last pitched on April 26th of 2016 with Daytona, where he made four starts before the injury. It’s been about a year of recovery for the former 3rd round draft pick, which is a tad quicker than you see from most guys. He is scheduled to start on Monday for the Tortugas. For now he’s taking over the roster spot of Mark Armstrong, who also just returned from Tommy John surgery to join the Daytona rotation. He’s dealing with a blister issue that’s landed him on the 7-day disabled list.