But as a 240-plus-pound, bat-only player, scouts need to see him do it at the upper levels before...

But as a 240-plus-pound, bat-only player, scouts need to see him do it at the upper levels before they believe.

That will have to wait until the regular season, but the 21-year-old gave evaluators a two-headed preview of things to come by hitting .339 with three home runs in 16 Arizona Fall League games. Aguilar followed that up with an equally impressive showing in his native country, Venezuela. If he can carry the momentum into the regular season, he'll be on more radars.

Kevin Goldstein, writing for ESPN

28 days ago APV 12 comments 0 recs |

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Ok then

by cheech99 on Jan 25, 2012 9:56 PM EST reply actions

This is the first positive scouting report I have heard on Aguillar. At some point during the AFL, Keith Law tweeted something about 240 being a low-ball estimate for Aguillar’s weight.

by APV on Jan 25, 2012 10:01 PM EST reply actions

69 ab’s, ops 0.836 in Venezuela. ok but not quite as impressive as the 1.069 ops in the AFL.

by plato on Jan 25, 2012 11:26 PM EST reply actions

The winter leagues are tougher competition IMO. There are usually many major-league players who come back to play, and it’s much more competitive atmosphere.

by Ryan on Jan 26, 2012 7:10 AM EST up reply actions

I get the sense that’s right. It has been encouraging to see Aguillar get better and better as the year has gone on, though. He saw a drop in his numbers after his promotion to Kinston, but not reflected in those numbers are the four HRs in Kinston’s 8 playoff games.

by APV on Jan 26, 2012 8:47 AM EST up reply actions

Which brings his season total, if you throw in 6 HRs in 128 ABs between the AFL and VWL, to 33 HRs in 680 ABs. For a guy his age facing this level of competition, that’s not bad. This might reflect the quality of pitching/umps, but his BB-rate and overall plate control has been dramatically improved during the winter league action. That aspect of his game, I would guess, is what will determine how aggressively the Indians push him up the system.

by APV on Jan 26, 2012 8:54 AM EST up reply actions