Earlier today I wrote about a record that would be fun to see Aristides Aquino chase down. I also noted that it was going to take a big effort to do so as he was working with far less playing time to do it than others have done. The Punisher doesn’t seem to care what I think. In the first inning of tonight’s game against the Miami Marlins he set a new National League record for most home runs hit in a single month with 14. That breaks the previous record of 13 that was held by Cody Bellinger (and Aquino, of course). It’s going to take work to break the Major League record, though. Rudy York hit 18 in a month for the 1937 Detroit Tigers.
It also makes him the fastest player to ever reach 14 career home runs. To be a broken record, he also holds the record for fastest to 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 career home runs.
When you play Road to the Show on rookie mode. ?#ThePunisher | #BornToBaseball pic.twitter.com/RDBSVLwq7G
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 29, 2019
It’s not just the National League record books that Aristides Aquino put his name in with that home run, though. That home run also tied him with Frank Robinson in 1962 and Greg Vaughn in 1999 for most home runs hit in a month by a Cincinnati Reds player. Aquino still has the rest of the night, and three more games this month to try and put himself at the top of the list all by himself.
With 14 home runs in the Major Leagues and the 28 home runs that Aristides Aquino hit in Triple-A this season, he now has 42 home runs on the season. The Reds right fielder missed nearly a month while in the minor leagues this season due to a shoulder injury. Imagine where he would be right now if he were healthy and hadn’t lost 80 at-bats due to injury.
Suggestion — create Aquino HR template, make updates, apply template.
Dude seems to be worth the effort to create it! Just wow!!!
We here the expression that “Pitchers will eventually figure the rookie out.” How many at bats should that take? I would think that if ML pitchers had a sure fire way of making him look silly they would have found it by now.
Here’s the thing: Unlike 10 years ago (and longer, of course), it’s incredibly easy to know what a guy coming up from the minors can and can’t hit. The minor league stadiums all have Trackman (the part of Statcast that tracks pitches, strikezone, launch angle, exit velocity, and distance on hits). Before he ever sees a pitch in the Major Leagues teams have YEARS of data on EXACTLY what he can and can’t hit, and where he can and can’t hit it.
You’ve got to be able to execute to that report, though.
Right now, as I noted the other day: Aristides Aquino is chasing pitches more than almost anyone in baseball. And he’s swinging through more pitches in the strikezone than almost anyone in baseball. But when he makes contact he’s hitting the ball 875 miles.
I’m fairly certain that no one that works for the Reds wants him to swing at non-strikes more than almost every player in the game of baseball.
They all do want him to keep hitting it 875 miles when he does make contact.
Interesting article, Doug. I didn’t realize that Rudy York held the rookie record for home runs in a month with 18. Rudy’s son, Joe York, was a friend of mine. I knew his dad was a good major league player but didn’t realize he held that record.