GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- During a recent batting-practice session, Reds power-hitting outfielder Aristides Aquino made some noise. One sounded like a gong. That was a fence-clearing drive to left field that hit a light standard. There was also a “thud.” It was Aquino’s drive to left-center field that landed on the

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- During a recent batting-practice session, Reds power-hitting outfielder Aristides Aquino made some noise. One sounded like a gong. That was a fence-clearing drive to left field that hit a light standard.

There was also a “thud.” It was Aquino’s drive to left-center field that landed on the roof of a shed.

“Physically, I feel very good right now,” Aquino said on Thursday via translator Jorge Merlos. “I feel like I can definitely carry this over into the season as well.”

Known as “The Punisher,” Aquino will have some questions to answer in 2020. Can he keep his spot as the regular right fielder after the Reds signed big free agents like Nick Castellanos and Shogo Akiyama that crowded the picture? Aquino has Minor League options left, which doesn’t help his case.

Is Aquino the guy who prolifically slugged home runs in August or the hitter that pitchers all seemed to have figured out?

Following his Aug. 1 promotion from Triple-A Louisville, Aquino batted .320 with 14 home runs and 1.160 OPS in his first month in the big leagues. Then the bottom fell out in September, as he batted .196 with five homers and a .619 OPS.

“Every team made adjustments towards what my swing is,” Aquino said. “I think I just have to learn how to be consistent and maintain that consistency throughout the year.”

Aquino, who turns 26 on April 22, made pitchers pay for throwing pitches in the zone last season. When he ventured out of the zone, especially on breaking balls, he struggled. According to Statcast, Aquino whiffed 38 percent of the time on breaking balls out of the strike zone. Most of them were low and outside.

In August, 35 percent of the breaking and offspeed pitches Aquino saw were in the strike zone. But in September, that number dipped to 29 percent as pitchers started trying to get him to chase more.

“I think they were more focused on not letting him beat them. I think they just pitched him tougher,” Reds manager David Bell said. “You’re always trying to pitch guys tough and get guys out. I think they were trying to expose any weakness. Most hitters are going to have a weakness -- up and in and breaking balls low and away. Until somebody proves that they’re going to do a lot of damage, you’re going to challenge them, because you don’t want to give away any free passes.

“Once he continually was beating them, beating them in the zone, I think they started trying to live on the edges of the zone and get him to chase. He did a great job for a long time of staying in his hot zone. Human nature, you’re having all the success and want to keep having it.”

Aquino set Major League records with the fewest plate appearances to 15 career homers (122) and fewest games to 14 homers (28). On Aug. 8 vs. the Cubs' Cole Hamels, he tied the Yankees’ Gary Sánchez with the hardest-hit home run of 2019 -- 118.3 mph -- according to Statcast.

As pitchers worked the edges against Aquino, the strikeouts accumulated. He struck out in 22.6 percent of his plate appearances in August. It increased to 30.9 percent in September. Bell believed that Aquino learned from his poor month of production.

“I’m almost more grateful for the experience he went through in September than the one when he was hitting all the home runs the month before,” Bell said. “I’m very impressed with him as a person, his maturity, his intelligence, his ability to make adjustments in the heat of competition, really. He showed that last year. My belief is he’s much closer to the player we saw in August when he was hot.

“He handled [September] exactly the way you’re supposed to handle it. He wasn’t having success, but he stayed with it, kept playing the game, continued to be a good baserunner, continued to be a good outfielder. It showed me a lot of inner confidence.”