Cincinnati Reds: Adding Nicholas Castellanos does not necessitate a trade

Option 2: Start Aristides Aquino in Triple-A to begin the season

Wait a minute. Are we just going to ignore what Aristides Aquino did during the month of August last season? I mean, c’mon. The Punisher broke several major league records en route to the Player of the Month. Aquino hit .320 with 14 home runs and 33 RBIs in 29 games and ended the month with a 1.158 OPS.

Unfortunately, Aquino’s phenomenal month of August did not bleed into September. The Punisher went 20-for102 down the stretch and finished September with a .619 OPS and just four homers. Still, Aquino finished the 2019 with 1.4 WAR and a 122 OPS+. That has to count for something, and would seem criminal not to play Aquino on a regular basis, right?

Let’s be clear, I’m a big fan of Aquino and think he can be a star. While some may point to the fact of him being a late-bloomer, there’s also the idea that after a red-hot start to his 2019 campaign, opposing pitchers began to figure out how to pitch to The Punisher.

Aquino is going to have to figure out how to hit the breaking ball. If a pitcher fell behind Aquino, the right-handed slugger had the advantage. However, Aquino had a 26.7% strikeout-rate according to FanGraphs. Compare that to Jesse Winker (15.6%) and Phillip Ervin (24.2%), and it could be argued that Aquino still needs more time at the minor-league level.

Aristides Aquino has one minor-league option remaining, and perhaps the prudent thing for the Reds to do, is to send Aquino down to Triple-A Louisville to begin the 2020 season. A lot of fans may scoff at the idea, but it could make a lot of sense. How Aquino performs in spring training will be a good indicator of what we can expect from The Punisher in 2020.