Milwaukee Brewers To Promote Top Prospect Keston Hiura To Majors

The Milwaukee Brewers have done what many fans have been calling for for quite some time, promoting top prospect Keston Hiura to the big leagues.

And here he comes to save the day! Keston Hiura, the Milwaukee Brewers 2017 first round draft pick is officially being called up to the big leagues.

According to Robert Murray of The Athletic, the Brewers have given Keston the call. There is no word yet on a corresponding move down to the minors. But since Hiura is such a highly touted prospect, it would make sense for him to be getting regular playing time up here.

Who Gets Removed From The Roster?

And if Hiura is to get regular playing time then someone is getting moved out of the starting lineup. Third baseman Travis Shaw has been struggling to the tune of a .163/.266/.281 slash line and even after three days off against the Cubs, couldn’t get a hit last night.

Shaw is going to be placed on the IL with a wrist injury. That does help to explain Shaw’s struggles at the plate this season if he’s been battling through an injury. Whenever he has tried to play through an injury, he’s always slumped. This will give him some time to get back to 100% and get his mind right at the plate.

To make room on the 40 man roster, INF Cory Spangenberg has been designated for assignment. He signed a split contract with the Brewers this offseason but did not make it up to the big leagues.

How Is Keston Hiura Doing In 2019?

Much better than Shaw, that’s for sure. Hiura has a .333 batting average with 11 home runs and a 1.106 OPS in 37 games in Triple-A San Antonio.

Hiura has 24 extra-base hits already and has driven in 26 runs. His 40 strikeouts this year are the only stat that seems to be out of place.

Why Make The Call Now?

Going into the season, with Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas manning second and third base, there appeared to be no room for Hiura for the entire season. The Milwaukee Brewers likely would’ve been content with those two and to let Hiura get more reps in the minor leagues. But Shaw is mired in a terrible slump and is dealing with a wrist injury that’s just making things worse.

This call up is after the Super Two cutoff date and that will allow the Brewers to gain an extra year of control over Hiura.

If Shaw was hitting like he normally does, then this call up doesn’t happen until much later in the season. But with that huge bat in the order not producing, and every game being hugely important in a crowded NL Central, Milwaukee needs to take matters into their own hands.

Will calling him up this early be the right move in the long run? We’ll see. But with how well he’s been hitting and how poorly Shaw has been, the Brewers felt it was time to make the move.

So here’s to Keston Hiura making his Major League debut. Let’s all hope he can live up to the incredible hype that’s been placed upon his shoulders.

The Brewers will lengthen their strong lineup with this move and add another quality contact hitter.