Ryan Aguilar Named Southern League Player of the Week

The Rocket City Trash Pandas are excited to announce that following a hot stretch at the plate, outfielder Ryan Aguilar has been named Southern League Player of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, August 21.

The award gives the Trash Pandas nine Southern League weekly awards this season and four Players of the Week after Trey Cabbage earned the honors on May 1, Orlando Martinez took home the award on June 19, and Livan Soto most recently accomplished the feat on July 10. The other five awards were Pitchers of the Week, with Brett Kerry (April 17), Chase Silseth (April 24), and Coleman Crow (May 22, June 12, and June 26) starring over the first half of the season. The weekly award is the second of Aguilar’s professional career, with the first one for the Class-A Carolina Mudcats in 2018.

Aguilar played in all six games against the Chattanooga Lookouts last week at Toyota Field and was sensational, hitting .438 (7-for-16) with two home runs, six RBI, six runs scored, a double, and six walks while posting a .591 on-base percentage and .938 slugging percentage. Aguilar recorded a hit in all five games he played while reaching base multiple time in four of the six games. His .591 on-base percentage led all of Double-A while six walks led the Southern League.

Aguilar was at his best in the second game of a doubleheader on Thursday night, going 3-for-3 with a double, home run, and three RBI in an 8-5 victory. He followed that by taking three walks and scoring three runs in in Friday's win. He homered again on Saturday night, helping spark a comeback win as Rocket City won five of six games against Chattanooga.

Aguilar is playing in his seventh professional season after originally being selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 31st round of the 2016 draft. He then signed with the Angels as a free agent last winter.

For the season, he is batting .277 with 15 home runs, 47 RBI, 53 runs, 11 stolen bases, and 63 walks in 87 games with the Trash Pandas. Aguilar currently leads the Southern League with a .423 on-base percentage and ranks among the league leaders in batting average (5th, .277), walks (4th, 63), and OPS (2nd, .929). He is currently hitting .348 (16-for-46) with a .492 on-base percentage in the month of August after posting a .344 average (22-for-64) in July.

Aguilar and the Trash Pandas (66-48, 25-20 second half) hit the road to begin a six-game series with the Tennessee Smokies (61-53, 24-21 second half) on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m. at Smokies Stadium. Josh Caray will be on the call for 103.9 FM THE UMP and 730 AM SportsRadio.