Keston Hiura Starting Again, Brandon Drury On The Bench
Los Angeles Angels infielder Keston Hiura is making the start at second base and will bat second for the Halos on Saturday versus the Chicago Cubs and veteran right-hander Kyle Hendricks at Wrigley Field, while infielder Brandon Drury heads to the bench. Hiura will be making his second straight start for the Angels after being called up on Friday to replace the injured Luis Rengifo (wrist). In his first big-league action on Friday since 2022 with the Brewers, Hiura went 1-for-3 with a strikeout in the 5-1 loss. The 27-year-old could play regularly in Anaheim with Drury struggling and Rengifo hurt, and he did hit .270/.346/.536 with 18 home runs in two Tripe-A stints this year. Hiura has hit .211 with a .513 OPS and an RBI in 19 career at-bats against Hendricks. Fantasy managers in AL-only leagues may want to take a flier on Hiura for his power.
Los Angeles Angels infielder Keston Hiura got the start as the designated hitter and was batting eighth for the start of Friday's series opener at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs and left-hander Justin Steele. Hiura, who was the bees knees at Triple-A Salt Lake, returns to the big leagues to take the roster spot of infielder Luis Rengifo (wrist), who was put on the 10-day injured list on Friday. The 27-year-old former Brewers prospect hasn't played in the big leagues since 2022 but could get some run in Anaheim, at least against left-handed pitchers. Kiura has always been known for his power mostly, so fantasy managers in need of it in AL-only leagues may want to take a look. The former ninth overall pick by Milwaukee in 2017 out of the University of California at Irvine hit .270/.346/.536 with 18 home runs and 45 RBI in 68 games at two different Triple-A levels before his call-up.
The Los Angeles Angels signed infielder Keston Hiura to a minor league contract over a week ago, and in the 10 games he's played with Triple-A Salt Lake, the 27-year-old is 15-for-40 (.375) with a double and five home runs. He's still striking out at a high rate (32.6%), but it's good to see the former first-round draft pick hitting for average and power after a few forgettable campaigns with Milwaukee and after getting released by Detroit this season without making a regular season appearance with the Tigers. He hasn't played in a major league game since 2022, but hit .303 with 19 home runs in just 84 games once upon a time in 2019, so maybe he can find the magic again with the Angels.
Detroit Tigers first baseman Keston Hiura has been doing everything he can to stay on the active roster. On Friday, Hiura went 2-for-4 with a grand slam in the victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. This spring, Hiura is hitting .304 with two homers and nine RBI in 23 at-bats. The 27-year-old is coming off a season where he slashed .226/.316./.449 with 14 home runs and 32 RBI with the Milwaukee Brewers. The good news for Hiura is that he's able to play multiple positions. He always had the potential to do big things at the MLB level but has never been able to put it together. Hopefully, Hiura is ready to take the step forward in 2024.
Free-agent infielder Keston Hiura signed an undisclosed deal with the Detroit Tigers on Friday. Hiura, once a former top prospect of the Milwaukee Brewers, will likely be joining the Tigers in spring training as a non-roster invite. The 27-year-old came up as a second baseman but was eventually moved to first base in Milwaukee. He didn't play in the majors at all in 2023 after being designated for assignment by the Brewers shortly before Opening Day. The former first-rounder hit .238/.318/.453 with a .771 OPS, 50 homer, 132 RBI, 20 steals and 131 runs scored in his four seasons in Milwaukee but ultimately fell out of favor because of a high strikeout rate. Hiura still has pop in his bat, but he struck out over 40 percent of the time in the big leagues in 2022.
Milwaukee Brewers infielder Keston Hiura cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday. Hiura will remain in the Brewers organization after he was designated for assignment, but he'll begin the 2023 season in the minor leagues. The 26-year-old right-handed slugger was once one of the team's top prospects, but he hasn't been very successful in the big leagues thanks to high strikeout totals at the plate. In 80 games for the Brew Crew in 2022, Hiura slashed .226/.316/.449 with a .765 OPS, 14 home runs, 32 RBI, 34 runs scored and five stolen bases in 266 plate appearances. He could eventually returned to the big-league roster this year, but it would only be in a part-time role at first base.
Milwaukee Brewers infielder Keston Hiura was designated for assignment on Monday, while outfield prospect Sal Frelick was reassigned to minor-league camp. The Brewers also optioned infielder Abraham Toro to Triple-A Nashville. Hiura was informed last Friday that he wouldn't be making the Opening Day roster after going just 5-for-32 (.156) with two doubles, no homers, three RBI and 15 strikeouts in 12 spring games. Once a top prospect for the organization, Hiura has decent pop, but it hasn't translated at the highest level due to too many strikeouts. Frelick is the team's No. 2 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, and he impressed this spring by hitting .385 with a double and three stolen bases in 10 Cactus League contests. He'll likely make his major-league debut in 2023.
Keston Hiura, Tyler Naquin Won't Make Brewers Roster
The Milwaukee Brewers informed out-of-options infielder Keston Hiura and non-roster outfielder Tyler Naquin on Friday that they will not make the team's Opening Day roster out of spring training. Hiura was scratched from Friday's Cactus League game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Milwaukee will now attempt to trade him before Opening Day next Thursday. The 26-year-old will likely go on waivers if no team wants to trade for him. He has decent power but doesn't make enough contact and strikes out far too often to be a lineup regular for most teams. Naquin, 31, could choose to opt out of his minor-league deal in order to latch on with another team in 2023. However, his poor performance at the plate this spring probably doesn't have many teams looking his way.
The Milwaukee Brewers and infielder Keston Hiura avoided salary arbitration on Friday by agreeing to a one-year, $2.2 million deal. Hiura was once one of the Brew Crew's better infield prospects, but the 26-year-old just hasn't been able to put much together after his rookie season in 2019 when he hit .303 and clubbed 19 home runs in 84 games. In 2022, he slashed .226/.316/.449 with a .765 OPS, 14 home runs, 32 RBI, 34 runs scored and five stolen bases in 266 plate appearances over 80 games. He struck out over 40 percent of the time and should open the 2023 campaign as a bench bat with pop for Milwaukee, leaving him little fantasy value outside of NL-only leagues.
Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Keston Hiura was the hero on Monday in the 7-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates, going 1-for-3 with a walk-off two-run home run. Hiura isn't an everyday player for the Brew Crew, but he's been decent in August with a .256 batting average (11-for-43) with six home runs, 11 RBI and seven runs scored in 15 games played. Overall in 2022, he's hitting .242/.346/.509 with an .855 OPS, 14 home runs, 28 RBI, 27 runs scored and five stolen bases in 191 plate appearances over 58 games. That's certainly useful for fantasy managers in deep mixed leagues.
