Cleveland Indians 2016 Top Prospects: #28 Jesus Aguilar

Cleveland Indians 2016 Top Prospects: #28 Jesus Aguilar

While it may seem like he’s been around forever and is no longer a “prospect,” first baseman Jesus Aguilar comes in at number 28 on our 2016 Cleveland Indians Top Prospect list.

Who is Jesus Aguilar?

Aguilar joined the Cleveland Indians as an amateur free agent back in November 2007, and he made his organizational debut the following season, making 2016 his ninth with the Indians organization.  In fact, of all the players on the Tribe’s current 40-man roster, Aguilar has the third most tenure as a member of the Indians’ organization, with only Josh Tomlin (June 2006) and Danny Salazar (July 2006) having been around longer.  Aguilar is also one of the few prospects on this list that has seen time with the big league club, having played (sparingly) in both 2014 and 2015.  He’s a big man, standing 6’3” and listed at 250 pounds.  He plays first base and hits from the right-side, which is one attribute that has endeared him to many Tribe fans…

Strengths and Weaknesses

Aguilar’s best attribute is by far his bat. He’s a big man that’s shown the ability to hit for power from the right-side, having hit 19 home runs in each of the past two seasons at Triple-A. He’s also added 60 doubles over the last two seasons.  This past season, his 19 home runs were tied for fourth-most in the International League in 2015 while his 93 runs batted in were tops in the league.

Where Aguilar really first turned some heads was in 2014 when he hit .304 with a .385 on-base percentage and slugging .511 for the Columbus Clippers. He followed that up by slugging 17 home runs in just 56 games while playing for Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League.  He also hit .327 while posted a 1.000 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage).  Needless to say, heading into 2015 there was some real excitement around Aguilar and his bat.

Outside of his offense, Aguilar has at times demonstrated the ability to play a competent first base. In fact, just this past summer Baseball America named him the best defensive first baseman in the International League.  Others have been less than thrilled with his play over at first base but one thing seems certain, he’s not a liability at the position.  

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However, his size does limit him to first base alone.  The Indians did experiment with him some in the outfield early on as he played 22 games in leftfield in his first two minor league seasons, and he did get a handful of games at third base in the Venezuelan Winter League; however, he’s ultimately viewed as a guy that’s either a designated hitter or first baseman at the major league level.  Along with his inability to play anywhere but first base, Aguilar doesn’t provide really any value on the bases.

Where Does He Go From Here?

Given his success at the plate the last two years at Triple-A, many have wondered why the Cleveland Indians haven’t given Aguilar more of a chance at the big league level. He’s only seen big league action in 26 games over the past two years, amounting to less than 60 plate appearances.  So why hasn’t he gotten a real shot?

One issue is his age. While Aguilar has hit well the last two years he’s also been 24 and 25 years old. Not exactly young though in his defense, not terribly old either. There’s also the matter that Huntington Park, where the Columbus Clippers play their home games, is considered one of the better hitter’s parks in the minor leagues. The numbers he’s been putting up there need to be taken with a grain of salt.  That said, he can’t help what ballpark he plays in and he’s not the only member of the team hitting there, yet he has put up stronger numbers than the most of the rest of the team. So why again am I and many others so down on Aguilar?

This is where scouting and the eye test comes in. While it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers with Aguilar, watching him doesn’t give you the sense he’s a star in the making. His bat speed leaves much to be desired and it’s felt that major league pitching will expose his offense.  Fair or not, he’s fallen into that “Quad-A” hitter category.  Given this, I really toyed with the idea of leaving Aguilar completely off my Top 30 Prospect list; however, in the end, he has shown enough that on some teams he could at least become a bench bat, possible platoon option at first base. He’s barely a prospect at this point, but still enough there to keep him in my top 30.

Next: Indians Top Prospect: #29 Shawn Morimando

Unfortunately for Aguilar, it doesn’t look like he’ll get a chance in 2016 to try and break free of the Quad-A stigma. With the presence of Carlos Santana and the addition of Mike Napoli, both first base and designated hitter are occupied on the big league club. Throw in the fact that Napoli and Aguilar are both right-handed hitters and even a platoon option would seem to be out.  So look for Aguilar to return to Triple-A Columbus for the third time.  He really has nothing left to prove there so it’ll be interesting to see how he handles himself this year. He took a step back offensively in 2015 while repeating the level so hopefully he can turn the corner and prove he belongs in the big leagues. He’ll be using his final minor league option in 2016 so really this is his last chance to prove himself to the Indians…