Former top Brewers prospect's career hanging on for dear life after MiLB deal

Eric Cole

Arizona Diamondbacks v Milwaukee Brewers / Kayla Wolf/GettyImages

Most Milwaukee Brewers fans remember very well the time when Keston Hiura was one of the team's top prospects and considered to be among the best hitting prospects in baseball period. Milwaukee was lauded for getting Hiura with the ninth overall pick in the 2017 draft and many expected Hiura to contribute in the big leagues quickly thanks to his advanced hit tool and despite his uncertain defensive future.

Unfortunately, Hiura's time in the big leagues has not gone to plan. While his 84 games during his debut 2019 season went well with a .303/.368/.570 line, his next three seasons with the Brewers saw him combine to post a .687 OPS as he was unable to replicate his early success while dealing with some injury issues. Milwaukee gave him multiple chances to work things out, but they ultimately designated for assignment in 2023 and he became a free agent after the season.

Hiura tried to catch on with the Angels last season, but his ability to hit again continued to escape him as he recorded just four hits in limited action. Despite all of the headwinds to sticking around in the big leagues, it looks like the Rockies are giving Hiura another shot on a minor league deal.

The Rockies have agreed to a Minor League deal with INF Keston Hiura, per source. Hiura will be in Major League camp with Colorado.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 15, 2025

Former Brewers top prospect Keston Hiura inks minor league deal with Rockies

One hopes that Hiura can figure things out with Colorado. He clearly has talent in him and perhaps going to a hitter-friendly environment with the Rockies can finally unlock his lofty potential. However, he is going to have to make actual contact for that to happen which has been a challenge for several years now.

Given that Hiura had to sign with the Rockies, it is abundantly clear that Hiura's career is on life support right now. Colorado is one of the worst teams in baseball and famously poorly run, so that he had to try and latch on there speaks to the fact that the number of teams interested in him at all is a very small number at this point. The Rockies are baseball purgatory and Hiura is now in it.

Hiura is a cautionary tale when it comes to prospects. Despite being from a relatively safe draft pick demographic as a college bat, there is nothing guaranteed whatsoever when it comes to prospects. The Brewers are as good as anyone in developing players and adding guys that can help them in the big leagues, but even they can only do so much.

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Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.