Brewers receive good news on Hiura’s elbow

Wednesday was a huge day for both Keston Hiura and the Milwaukee Brewers.

Not only did the firstround draft pick sign with the team for a reported $4 million bonus, it was determined he won’t need reconstructive surgery after all on his right elbow.

“It was a big relief,” said Hiura at his introductory news conference at Miller Park prior to the Brewers’ matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Hiura, selected ninth overall out of UC Irvine, was generally regarded as the top college hitter in the draft but wasn’t able to play in the field due to a partial UCL tear that dated to April of 2016. He aggravated it again last November.

Hiura underwent a PRP injection to help with the healing, and the Brewers drafted him last week with the belief he wouldn’t need surgery. But they were also prepared for the possibility Hiura could miss a year had the elbow required Tommy John surgery.

As it turns out, it won’t.

“The biggest piece of evidence is looking at the imaging and the MRI now versus what it looked like previously,” general manager David Stearns said. “We had very recent ones that we were able to compare to what he had taken when he felt he injured the elbow.

“After that, he had a PRP injection and what we could see is the ligament has healed very nicely since that PRP injection. The rest plus the PRP plus the rehab he was going through worked, and that’s really exciting.”

The plan for Hiura moving forward will be to send him to the team’s minor-league complex in Maryvale, where he’ll go through a six-week throwing program while also getting him at-bats with the Brewers’ entry in the Arizona Rookie League.

Should all go according to plan, Hiura should be able to report to Class A Wisconsin to begin his on-field career before the end of the season. He was mostly a second baseman at UC Irvine, and projects to that position in the major leagues.

“Clearly, anytime a player has had an injury with a particular body part in the past there’s enhanced risk going forward,” Stearns said. “But at this point we are comfortable that a return-tothrow program will be successful, and we believe we will see him in the field at some point this year.”

Hiura, a 5-foot-11, 185pounder, hit .442 with eight home runs, a .567 on-base percentage and .693 slugging percentage while not missing a game as a junior at UC Irvine.

“It was kind of tough not being able to throw or play in the field at Irvine and just be a DH, but I enjoyed it – as many people know,” said Hiura, referring to his sparkling offensive ability. His $4 million signing bonus was $570,000 below slot due to the concerns about his elbow.

“I was able to do that the whole season and not miss any games. That was my goal, to play the whole season and if not throwing and playing the field was the price for that, then so be it.

“I was glad to play every game.”

As is customary for all the team’s first-round picks, Hiura was in uniform and took batting practice with the Brewers prior to the game in a group that included Eric Thames, Jonathan Villar and Lewis Brinson.

He then met the assembled media flanked by amateur scouting director Tod Johnson and area scout Wynn Pelzer, each of whom saw Hiura play plenty this past season. Hiura’s family was also in attendance, with his father recording the proceedings on an iPad.

“It’s definitely a big day that I’ve been looking forward to pretty much my whole life,” Hiura said.