Milwaukee Brewers: When Will We See Keston Hiura?

Trevor Hooth

PHOENIX, AZ - MARCH 07: The Sausage Race mascots compete during the spring training game between the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers at Maryvale Baseball Park on March 7, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

The Milwaukee Brewers first round draft pick in 2017, Keston Hiura, is absolutely tearing apart pitching in the MiLB.

It would be easy to check MLB Pipeline. Hiura sits as the Milwaukee Brewers number five prospect, though that is likely to change. He should move up. The website gives the prospect an ETA of 2020. But that seems a little long for my taste.

I am very high on this prospect. He sits as the third ranked among all prospective second baseman. While that predicts his future value, the numbers show Hiura is going to move quickly through the farm.

It took 15 games for Hiura to graduate from Rookie level into full season A ball with Wisconsin. Between the leagues, his batting average was .371. That is impressive for any professional level. His A mark sat at .333 through 105 at bats. It is safe to say he will see time in Biloxi in 2018.

His Path

There is a lot of speculation involved with this. I am assuming a lot about how he will perform. But, I see Hiura starting with Biloxi next season. College gave the second baseman some seasoning that high school picks did not get.

This time in Biloxi will probably take awhile longer than his time in lower levels. There is no doubt he proved himself to be talented enough to be there, but he still needs some seasoning at the Double A level. However, it shouldn’t take all year.

Triple A will take him into 2019. Either mid season or possible September call ups, Hiura will make his debut. I believe in his bat. It will carry him to the MLB. Though it might appeal to an AL team as a DH. His glove is still questionable.

The Negatives

The bat is solid. But the leather is less than that. Hiura did make his only play in Class A. That is an extremely small sample size. Hopefully his higher level coaches can figure out his fielding issues and they can be put to rest.

His health may come into play as well. It is not a well kept secret that he is already a little injury prone. The Milwaukee Brewers knew of his injury when the drafted him, though. If he can’t stay healthy that is going to be a problem.

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Regardless, Hiura is filled with a lot of talent. He can hit, and he will learn to field. The Milwaukee Brewers will make sure of that. It would seem to be a quick progression for the 21 year old second baseman. He came into the professional ranks as a very mature hitter.

Trevor Hooth

Trevor is a former baseball player at Millikin University graduate with a degree in Communication. Baseball has been his passion ever since he learned to throw. And while throwing has gotten him this far, his love of writing is taking over. He has covered the Tigers for NewTalk 760 WJR in Detroit, as well as interning with the Toledo Mud Hens.