If you’ve been following baseball lately, it seems that the Reds have something to cheer about. Aristides Aquino seems to be the real deal. Even the New York Post (who is taking a break from stroking Luke Voit now that he’s out) wrote a friendly piece on Double-A.
Keep in mind, the above card is not an official APBA card. It comes from Steve’s APBA Card Computer web site. This card is based on stats based on the 2019 season and was created Sunday night.
| Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Totals | 16 | 59 | 55 | 15 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 14 | .345 | .390 | .964 |
Assuming Aquino keeps this pace or anything remotely close to it, it raises a question. “Will APBA downgrade Aquino’s card for having a small sample size?”
APBA has gone through several phases of this. There were decades in the 70s and 80s of monster card pitchers because they got lucky with the bat once. Aristides Aquino is decidedly not one of those. APBA now “downgrades” those pitchers to make them more palatable and usable. Most pitchers with good hitting cards are because they are actually good hitters.
Aquino fits into a class of late season call-ups who (at least temporarily) respond to the pressure of the big leagues. A good example is the aforementioned 2018 Luke Voit who ended up with power numbers 1-1-1-0-0. Shane Spencer’s 1998 card also comes to mind. Spencer had power numbers 1-1-1-1-5-6-6.
APBA I think, has realized that most people are using these cards as they are intended and are not reducing their value. That said, I wonder if Aquino would get a 1-1-1-1-1-1-5 card if the season ended today.
Most likely, this is a moot question since Aquino will get more playing time and while he will continue to hit well, it will not be at the superhuman pace it is at currently.
