According to his player page on MLB.com, former top prospect Keston Hiura has elected free agency. He spent the 2023 season with the Brewers’ Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds.
Hiura was the ninth overall selection in the 2017 draft. He wasted no time at all in making a strong first impression, batting .371 with a 1.033 OPS across stints at the Rookie and Low-A levels. He continued to hit the following season, beginning the year at High-A and earning a promotion to Double-A by June. The year after that was more of the same, as Hiura demolished Triple-A pitching en route to a big league promotion at just 22 years old. While some might have struggled after such a quick ascension to the highest level of the game, the young star didn’t skip a beat. He finished his rookie season with 19 home runs, nine stolen bases, and a .938 OPS in 84 games.
Unfortunately for Hiura, that’s where the good times stopped. He spent the full year with the Brewers in 2020, slashing a meager .212/.297/.410. Things took a turn for the worse the following year, as he hit .160 with a .563 OPS, bouncing back and forth between the major and minor leagues.
His bat started to look better in 2022, and Hiura had an .805 OPS at the All-Star break. Still, his underlying numbers were cause for concern; his 43.8% strikeout rate was untenable, and his .412 BABIP was masking deeper issues. Indeed, Hiura fell back down to earth over the final two months of the season, striking out far too often to make good use of his power bat. Ultimately, the Brewers couldn’t find a place for him on the active roster entering the 2023 campaign, and as he was out of options, they had no choice but to designate the once-promising slugger for assignment. He cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A, where he spent the season. His .308/.395/.565 slash line was impressive, but evidently not impressive enough to merit a reunion with the big league squad.
Now a free agent, Hiura is free to sign with a new organization, and perhaps a change of scenery is just what he needs. Next year will be his age-27 season, and if he continues to hit like he did at Triple-A, it’s hard to imagine he won’t make his way back to majors eventually.
San Diego bound! On a minor league deal.
A team like Colorado should take a flyer on him. He could potentially mash there and get flipped at deadline.
That sounds like a pretty good idea, which means there is a 0 percent chance the Rockies will do it.
The Rox don’t need him. They need pitching. At least 3 starters and 3-4 relievers will have to be found this offseason. The offense just needs to quit striking out so much and/or stay healthy.
The Rockies lost 103 games. They need everything they can get their hands on.
Two years ago, the Orioles, Rangers, and Diamondbacks lost 100 games. Doesn’t take that long to turn it around if a team can get healthy.
Yeah, but those teams had a plan and stuck to it. COL has no plan aside from twisting in the wind and hoping things get better.
Just because you don’t know what it is or understand it, doesn’t mean they don’t have a plan.
@hiflew: “The Rox don’t need him.”
Hiura plays 1B and 2B. The Rockies got -0.6 WAR collectively from their first basemen and -0.6 WAR from their second basemen, good for 2nd-to-last and last in the Majors, respectively. The Rockies need a dude like this more than literally any other team in baseball.
Brilliant idea. Rockies have nothing to lose. Bring him in and see if he can cut down on that 36% strikeout rate. Coors could do wonders, especially if he gets cut. Just wash away those tears with a Banquet Beer.
Wow hi flew great analysis Rockies need pitching that is something nobody knew
Hiura would have been a better choice on the post season roster than Winker.
The ballboy would’ve been a better choice than Winker.
Henry Winkler would if been a vetter hoice…aka…The Fonz!
Henry Winkler would of been a better choice…aka…The Fonz!
Fin, try it a third time, but this time use have instead of if or of. I think that will really drive it home for you.
Yes, choosing Winker over Tellez was bad enough, but if you were going to give a AAA player a chance, it should have been Huira.
What a waste. He was always a poor defender but had his moments at the plate. I think he was mis-used because he had better stats vs. righties but was used primarily against lefties. And he absolutely raked in AAA but hasn’t translated to the bigs. I hope he links up with someone who doesn’t hurt the Brewers
I met Hiura at a Brewers Winter Fest his rookie year and he was a very cool kid. I think the hitting coach messed him up when they tried to change his launch angle. Some guys you just let play, but Brewers hitting coaches have been killing hitters the past 5 years. Hope he catches on somewhere in the AL and gets his confidence back.
Team needs a change. Counsell needs to go and take Winker with him to New York. All Craig does is over manage and play righty lefty matchups. Zero feel for the game besides reading analytic sheets
Lol.
No chance Winker joins the Mets. He hates them and the fans hate him.
Some players need a change of scenery. Guy looked to be on the way up and then was figured out. Hopefully he can work his way back with the right org.
Crazy how much he’s fallen, especially after being so good so early. I thought he was one of the best draft choices that year. I wonder if moving to an organization that has a better track record developing hitters could turn him back around into a good offensive weapon.
If the Dodgers sign him he’ll be an all star within two years. But for some odd reason I see this as a Jerry DiPoto signing. If that’s the case it won’t work out for either party. Some day he’ll learn reclamation projects don’t pan out for that organization.
Guess Samuel was right and the Brewers should have traded Burnes, Woodruff, Adames and Lauer last offseason.
About time, no longer a question what the management is doing with Hiura. Thought to be fair, Hiura did find a way to be on the minors IL when a couple occasions happened you would think he gets called back to Milwaukee. Good luck to him such a short career for a prospect being 1 of 2 in 2019 with a 70 grade hit tool. Tatis Jr I believe the other.
Good luck Keston. You deserved a better fate on this team.
Hiura’s one of the most frustrating Brewers in recent years. Tore the cover off the ball in AAA, couldn’t hit major league pitching after his rookie year, and played DH-level defense. Too bad, because he looked like a future star as a rookie. It seemed like he changed his approach after that and was never the same. A fresh start can’t hurt at this point.
Just like Nelson Cruz back in the day. He was labeled as a AAAA player around here, but look what happened when he caught on with another team. I believe he was around the 27 age, too
white soxs
Career AAAA hitter. Wish him well somewhere else.
Also what a dud of a post season….tho as a brewers fan, expected.
He seems perfectly suited to be the backup DH/1B for the White Sox. He will get time to play when Jimenez inevitably gets hurt breathing.
Agreed. It’s not like the WhiteSox have cared about defense for a while. They could even try him at 2b.
IM SHOCKED the crew were willing to ride right off/over the edge of the freaking cliff with Tellez and a much lesser extent Winker, yeah Tellez will slug (but not apparently post may in ‘23) however that’s literally Kestons biggest upside, plus Keston will provide you with a good OB% and a decent knack for stealing/base running and being an athlete in general which Tellez.. and idc what the analytics say Keston has a flare for the “spectacular” and he made some outrageous game saving catches in LF for the Crew in ‘22, a game saving body sacrificing catch against the cubs comes to mind, then bottom half he hit a bomb of course, the guy has such legitimate talent and extreme ability and he actually has quite the “motor” I watched the majority of his major league innings and of course u prefer him at DH, but regardless again with his talent/motor he is undoubtedly a Major league player and it’s egregious he wasn’t on a roster all ‘23, at least give him a chance, the Crew had at bats when Tellez was hurt, the team ended up figuring it out despite Tellez contributing mainly “clubhouse presence” and that’s all fine but down 4-3 game one, I mean Keston kills same hand pitching because he hits with power to right field ala Ryan Braun and needing a homer/just to get on base in that situation I mean how do u not have Keston for that situation instead of Winker in Oct. ‘23 but not only didn’t Keston get the AB, he wasn’t even on the Roster.. or 40 man.. wt.. is that!
He is actually a pretty decent outfielder and his firstbase work has gotten better. There was no need bring him up because CC wasn’t going to play him. He is a very hard worker and did everything they asked him to work on. Cut down on strike outs without losing power.
While I’m a bit surprised, or confused maybe is more accurate, they didn’t give him 1 last chance at some point, I do understand that with each chance they gave him the 2 previous years his K rate got worse. 43% is terrible and I don’t care if anyone says otherwise.
Coming out of the draft, the hit tool was supposedly Hiura’s calling card and the main staple of his offense.
Gotta feeling the Brewers changed his natural swing, stressed more loft angle and exit velocity, and those changes doomed him.
The Phillies did the same thing with Scott Kingery and Mickey Moniak. A change of scenery (Angels) worked for Moniak. Maybe Hiura can find similar success in a different uniform.
If the Cubs don’t re-sign Bellinger for 1B, maybe the Cubs could use Hura there as the short side of a platoon with Mervis?
Got the Shaft! Better than many of the guys who played this year. Very ironic that he becomes a FA when the crew eliminated, Good Luck and God Bless!
I’ve been going to the Arizona Fall League for a couple of years, it’s awesome, Vlad Jr and Pete Alonso were there a couple of years ago, the MVP was Keston Huira, always shaky in the field but a big hitter
Did somebody said Oakland?
i think Hiura can revive his carrer in such no presure enviroment Lol
For anyone thinking he’s a platoon player, look again. The guy is the rare RH hitter who is pretty good against RHP (.840 OPS) but cannot hit lefties (.606 OPS). This is in over 1,000 MLB plate appearances!
I think the Brewers never learned that lesson. He is a great AAA DH as long as he plays every day. But nobody needs that.
It is an absolute travesty that Hiura was not brought up to help the Brewers this season. it shows complete irresponsibility of Counsell and upper management. While they were dinking around with Winker, Singleton, Ruf, Tapia, Donaldson, Brosseau, Perkins they had a legitimate .300 hitter with power a phone call away. He has proven he can hit major league pitching. He has overcome some personal hardships in his family life and he has changed his batting approach and cut down on his strikeouts. He was a clutch hitter for the Crew even during his hard times. He is versatile…he may not be great defensively but he can handle first, second or even left if need be and would make an awesome middle of the order guy with some pop. Some team is going to get a steal all because of the Brewer management incompetence. Go get ’em
Keston!
Completely agree, and at some point the crew are going to have to face him and…..yikes
He is so effective against same handed pitching because of his ability to pound opposite field like Ryan Braun, not sure why the crew kept forcing him to face lefties…..