Aquino HR #1 – First Major League Homer

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Prelude

The Reds signed Aristides Aquino out of the Dominican Republic in January 2011. He didn’t reach A-ball until 2015 or AA-ball until 2017. He played for AA-Pensacola in 2017 and 2018. Aquino was called up to the Reds last season when Joey Votto went on the DL after being hit in the leg by a Ryan Madson pitch. Aquino was with the Reds from Aug. 17-25 and got into one game as a pinch runner and right fielder. He got one plate appearance and struck out. The Reds released Aquino to free agency on Nov. 30 but then signed him back a day later. Doug Gray rated Aquino the Reds #20 prospect last December.

Aquino was promoted to AAA-Louisville this season, where in 323  plate appearances he hit .299/.356/.636 with 28 home runs. The Reds called him up on August 1 after trading Yasiel Puig to the Cleveland Indians. Aquino has been wrecking major league pitching ever since.

Home Run #1

David Bell put Aquino in the Reds starting lineup the first day he could, Thursday, August 1. Aquino played RF in Atlanta, batting 6th. The 25-year-old got only two plate appearances in that rain-abbreviated game and four more the next day. After two starts, Aquino was 0-6 with two strikeouts and zero hard-hit balls. Despite the slow beginning, Bell wrote Aquino’s name on the starting lineup card a third day. Bell’s continued support was rewarded on that fateful Saturday.

Aquino had singled (his first major league hit) and walked (his first major league base on balls) earlier in the game. The Reds were facing Atlanta’s Dallas Keuchel, a former Cy Young Award winner, who had held the Reds offense in check through six innings. With the score 3-0 in Atlanta’s favor, Aristides Aquino hit his first major league home run with two Reds on base to tie the score 3-3. Here are the basic facts:

Here is the graphic display.

[Graphic: Baseball Savant]

From Bobby Nightengale (Cincinnati Enquirer):

Then Aquino showed why the Reds promoted him, blasting a game-tying, three-run homer over the left-field wall for his first career homer.

Once Aquino crossed home plate, he hugged Iglesias. Suárez told him, “Atta baby, nice job!” It was high-fives and smiles in the dugout for Aquino, who had the ball from his first hit and his first home run in his locker afterward.

“When you call home, they always say, ‘When are you going to get your first hit?'” said Aquino, who plans to frame the baseballs and give them to his mom in the Dominican Republic. “You have that in the back of your mind. When I hit the first single, it really relaxed me. I felt like 100 pounds off of my shoulder.”

The Pitch

When Aquino faced Keuchel in the 7th inning, it was his third plate appearance against the Braves pitcher. In this at bat, Keuchel started Aquino off with a 78.3 mph changeup on the far outer edge of the plate. Horizontal movement was 7.3 inches, vertical movement 3.86 inches. Aquino had singled off Keuchel’s changeup earlier in the game, but that pitch was in the middle of the zone. This one wasn’t. It was a good pitch, right on the black.

The Hit

Aquino waited, got out ahead of it just a bit, but still made good enough contact to drive it for a home run. Aquino’s blasted Keuchel’s pitch 404 feet into the third row of Sun Trust Field’s left field bleachers. The launch angle was 25 degrees and exit velocity 99.7 mph. (Click on the picture to play the video.)

This was Aristides Aquino’s first major league home run. But at an EV of 99.7 mph, it wasn’t one of the Reds top three hardest hit balls that night.

[https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1157830379329531905]

The Game

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Aquino’s homer produced .310 WPA (win probability added). He was removed as part of a double-switch in the bottom of the 7th inning.

This was Trevor Bauer’s first start for the Reds, who tied the game back up 4-4 in the 9th on a Tucker Barnhart single. Remember, Jesse Winker was thrown out by a mile and a half trying to score on the same play with one out. The Reds lost in the bottom of the 10th, 5-4.