When a player is young, he dreams of being in game seven of the World Series. He dreams of making that final catch or walk-off home run to end the game and run to the infield with the rest of his team, completely overcome with the best feeling of shock in their lives. While listening to a collection of Hammy calls on YouTube, I have to wonder about the Cleveland Indians prospects and rookies who dream about that game seven feeling. Or being the next heart-stopping, breath-taking Hammy call that Cleveland will remember forever. How many times has Jesus Aguilar wondered if he will he ever get the chance to be that next home run call to get fans through the long winter days?
Aguilar is someone the Indians have called upon over the last few seasons for one reason or another. He was signed by the Indians in 2007 as an amateur free agent and started his career in their Dominican summer league. Aguilar’s batting average, through the eight seasons with the Indians minor league system, averaged north of .240 average (other than his first season, batting a .209 in 2008).
That leads me to believe, that in order to get what we want out of this young 1B power bat, he needs to be able to get his cleats dirty in more than seven games a season. It may be that the Indians see something in him that is missing and they believe he can find it in triple A. Perhaps, a weakness in reading/hitting major league pitchers, but if he is not playing against them how is he supposed to learn?
He has many positives that the Indians need, primarily being a right handed bat with a charge of power that can continue to intensify. In addition, being “raised” in the Indians system, a homegrown kid, is something that can instill a sense of pride when he finally gets to the top for HIS team. His defense isn’t at all bad, but can always be better, only charged with a single error in Columbus and two in Cleveland.
After his short three game appearance in the middle of the 2015 season at Progressive Field, Aguilar made his way back down to triple A, and lit up the field. Something seemed to have woken up in the rookie and his bat found its groove. Nine home runs, 15 doubles, and 45 RBI within 55 games kept his name in the minds of fans. The sooner that September came up, the more people hoped to see him in Cleveland for the call-ups, possibly as a missing piece the Indians needed to get that extra push for the wild card.
Aguilar left the season with a wonderful finish, but with a question mark above his head on what the Indians plan to do with him next year. He has only a single option left, which means the Indians need to make a decision about him within the next year. The signing of first baseman Mike Napoli on a one-year $7 million deal with Carlos Santana and Chris Johnson around, make it seem like they’ll decide what to do with Aguilar when all options are exhausted. Keeping him on the leash, he has been on for the last two seasons. I would love to see more of him in a big league uniform. He has every inch of potential to be exactly what the Indians need and they would not even have to trade for it.
His 2016 can be very cut and dry; they will either commit to him or put him in a package deal for someone new. There isn’t much room for anything in between. If he is traded, I can safely assume the Cleveland cliché would be played into and Aguilar will not only take over the baseball world but destroy Cleveland every time the teams come together. Isn’t that how it always seems to go?
Whatever Cleveland does with him, many believe he’s more than just a “side piece” on constant call whenever the team needs a stand in, and I hope they realize that before it’s too late. He deserves to have that moment under the big lights of The Jake to claim his Hammy call, and if the stars line up just right for once, it can be in game seven.
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