Aguiar impressed Cincinnati president of baseball operations Nick Krall during the pitcher's first big-league camp, Jim Bowden of The Athletic reports. "He showed excellent poise in his first big-league camp and competes well," Krall said. "His stuff continues to improve and he has a chance to be a quality big-league pitcher in the near future."
Bowden asked each team's decision-makers for one prospect that made an impression this spring, and Krall lauded Aguiar, a 12-round pick in 2021. The right-hander's spring results in two games don't jump off the page, but he's coming off a breakout season in stops at High-A Dayton and Double-A Chattanooga in 2023 and was named the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Aguiar was particularly dominant for Dayton, where he used a mid-90s fastball, plus slider and high groundball rate to post a 1.92 ERA and .173 batting average against. He was less successful in Double-A but pitched better than his 4.28 ERA suggests (.340 BABIP, 3.53 xFIP). He'll likely open 2024 at Double-A with a chance to reach Triple-A Louisville.
