Milwaukee Brewers: Checking in on top prospect Keston Hiura

When we last checked on Milwaukee Brewers top prospect Keston Hiura, he was just promoted to Double-A. Is he still on track to reach the Majors next year?

In less than two years in the Milwaukee Brewers organization, Keston Hiura has already played at four different levels. He breezed through the Rookie league and Low-A last year. He smashed High-A this year. How did he do in Double-A?

How has Hiura performed with the Biloxi Shuckers?

After posting a .320/.382/.529 slash line in 50 games at High-A, Hiura earned a promotion to Biloxi. In 67 games, Hiura has slashed .272/.332/.424 in 280 plate appearances. He’s smashed six homers and stolen 10 bases.

After posting a 24.7% line drive rate in High-A, Hiura has only managed to hit line drives at a 20.7% clip in Double-A.

Hiura has also played 60 games at second base, and committed nine errors.

Is this cause for concern?

Nope. Let’s think about this logically.

Last year, Hiura only played DH in college and in his first season in professional baseball. He’s played second base almost everyday this year, and he’s playing at a much higher level than last year. It’s reasonable to think that Hiura is wearing down from the grind of playing second base in Double-A. It’s not a surprise that his numbers have dipped in the second half of the season.

What happens next year?

That depends on how Hiura plays in the Spring. If he shows up after an off-season of conditioning and tears the cover off the ball in Spring Training, he could start the season in Triple-A, and end up in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform after June.

A more likely scenario is that Hiura has a solid camp, starts the year in Double-A, and then gets promoted to Triple-A before making a late season cameo.

Hiura is still on pace to end up with the Milwaukee Brewers sooner rather than later. He didn’t slay Double-A the same way he flew through Low-A and High-A. It happens. There’s every reason to believe that Hiura will force his way on to the Major League roster in the next 12 months. The fact that the Brewers didn’t look to deal Hiura at the deadline for an ace shows that they see him as a big part of their future. That future could happen in 2019.