Jesus, I like him very much...
Aguilar moves within one of the NL lead in home runs with his 18th this afternoon. He's hitting 304/364/628 at the moment and has ousted Eric Thames (and Ryan Braun) as Milwaukee's regular first baseman. I followed Aguilar coming up through the minors and saw him play a few times in AA, where he stood out like that kid in little league who's hit his growth spurt before everyone else. He always seemed to be laughing and having fun, too... just an easy guy to root for.
It was obvious he was never going to get a chance to play in Cleveland, Carlos Santana was in the lineup at first base every night, and then the signing of Edwin Encarnacion was the final nail in his coffin with the Indians. It was just bad timing that he could have been Santana's replacement this year, and Yonder Alonso's money could have been used for other needs. It also seems ironic that Aguilar went to an equally crowded situation in Milwaukee, but has outhit all the competition. I thought he could be a late bloomer who has 5-6 productive years as a DH/1B, but I didn't foresee him ever producing like he has in the first half this year.
*