Aquino HR #10: Adam Wainwright Turned to Look Way Up

by — September 18, 2019 in Hitting Analysis

Aristides Aquino’s Timeline of Punishment

  1. First Major League Homer
  2. Obliteration
  3. Hardest Hit
  4. The (First) One Off Yu Darvish
  5. Start of a Huge Day
  6. Kyle Hendricks Tried Another Sinker
  7. Farthest Hit
  8. “A Loud Sound”
  9. Out of the Strike Zone
  10. Adam Wainwright Turned to Look Way Up
  11. “You Can’t Stop This Kid!”

[The tenth post in a series looking at Aristides Aquino’s home run streak.]

[Credit: https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1162537951898886145]

Home Run #10

Aquino hadn’t homered the day before in the first game of the series in GABP against the Cardinals, a game the Reds had won 2-1 on a terrific performance by Sonny Gray. By the time Aquino came to bat for the third time in this game, the Reds were behind 12-1. Josh VanMeter, who had doubled in Nick Senzel for the Reds first run, was on third. Wainwright had struck out Aquino in his two previous at bats.

Nothing about the dimensions of this home run stands out. The exit velocity, launch angle and distance traveled were average in relation to all of Aquino’s homers.

Here is the graphic display.

[Graphic: Baseball Savant]

The Pitch

Adam Wainwright (38), is at the end of a long, terrific career pitching for the Cardinals. Over his 14 seasons, four times he was in the top-3 in NL Cy Young voting. He’s been the face of the Cardinals pitching staff since Chris Carpenter retired in 2012. Wainwright has started nearly 30 games against the Reds. He’s been brilliant, although lately the Reds have had success against him.

In the 6th inning on August 16, Wainwright started Aquino off with an 85.5 mph cutter that was outside. Aquino laid off. The Cardinals pitcher followed that with the same pitch, this time in Aquino’s wheelhouse, low in the strike zone. Aquino didn’t miss.

 

The Hit

The first time had been a 7-pitch plate appearance and Aquino went down swinging on Wainwright’s cutter. This time, when Wainwright tried to go back-to-back with that cutter, Aquino was ready. He hit it 396 feet deep into the left-center field bleachers. The ball had an exit velocity of 103.6 mph and launch angle of 30º.

Wainwright turned and looked. [Click on the picture to see the video.]

The History

With this blast, Aquino had hit his 10th homer earlier in his career than any player in the history of baseball. He’d hit more in 16 games than anyone else. It also set an even more impressive record for fewest plate appearances into a season (54) for a 10th homer.

The Game

RC+ Game Preview | RC+ Game Recap

The Reds lost 13-4 in the worst start of Luis Castillo’s career. The game that Jose Peraza pitched.

Tags:

Steve Mancuso

Steve Mancuso is a lifelong Reds fan who grew up during the Big Red Machine era. He’s been writing about the Reds for more than ten years. Steve’s fondest memories about the Reds include attending a couple 1975 World Series games, being at Homer Bailey’s second no-hitter and going nuts for Jay Bruce at Clinchmas. Steve was also at all three games of the 2012 NLDS, but it’s too soon to talk about that.

Subscribe to RC+ via Email

Get an email every time we publish a new post!

Reds Content Plus is a site for passionate fans of the Cincinnati Reds. Our staff of independent writers covers the performance of Reds players and the strategies of the Reds manager and front office. Our content builds on what you’ll find at other Reds fan sites. What separates RC+ is our use of (and explaining) advanced statistical measures. Whether it’s a sacrifice bunt, intentional walk, stolen base, bullpen use, pinch hitting or pulling the starting pitcher, we’ll dig into the numbers. If you want to support us, check out our Support Page.