The sad end for Jesús Aguilar on the Miami Marlins

The Miami Marlins released designated hitter Jesús Aguilar. It wasn’t a surprise given his production this season and I even predicted it. He batted .236/.286/.388 in 113 games and 415 AB with 15 home runs and 49 RBI. This was good for -0.6 WAR, so it was a natural outcome that his career with The Fish is now over. Kim Ng made the right call for once. It’s a shame because he had so much upside at one point…

Jesús Aguilar had a promising career that just simply never worked out the way it was initially going.

It’s never fun to see promising careers end in a whimper, but with athletes it happens too often. Whether it’s loss of skill, a mechanical tweak that the player was never able to undo, or injuries that the player was never able to fully recover from, the result is the same sad ending. Jesús Aguilar just never lived up to his former hype.

Jesús Aguilar debuted in 2014 with the Cleveland Indians and batted .121/.211/.121 in 19 games and 33 AB. That was a terrible beginning to his career that was worth -0.5 WAR. The following season in 2015 it was different however, this time he batted .316/.350/.368 in 7 games and 19 AB. This was not only obviously better than the previous season, but hinted at some promise for the future.

In 2017, Jesús Aguilar batted .000/.000./.000 in 9 games and 6 AB. Hmmmm. The Milwaukee Brewers however saw something in him and brought him in for the 2017 season. He rewarded them by breaking out with a .265/.331/.505 batting line with 16 home runs and 52 RBI in 133 games and 279 AB.

The Milwaukee Brewers we’re likely excited to give Jesús Aguilar a full-time role at first base for the 2018 season, and he rewarded them with a .274/.352/.539 batting line in 149 games and 492 AB. He hit 35 home runs and drove in 108 RBI, being worth 3.4 WAR.

I remember on a personal note, how Jesús Aguilar was suddenly pretty valuable in fantasy baseball the following season…too bad he only batted .236/.325/.389 in 131 games and 314 AB with Milwaukee and the Tampa Bay Rays. He was worth -0.6 WAR and things never got back to how they were.

Jesús Aguilar was worth just 1.4 WAR for the next three seasons COMBINED, and while he had his moments, he was never the middle of the order bat that he once seemed to be.