Hiura has plenty of time to bounce back
CHICAGO – Knowing the 2020 season was boiled down to 60 games by the pandemic, it was hard for a tough series at the plate not to play on a hitter’s mind more than ever.
Getting back to a 162-game season didn’t make it any easier for Brewers first baseman Keston Hiura to accept a 0-for-11 opening series against the Minnesota Twins in which he struck out six times. But at least he had the knowledge that there were 159 games remaining to find a groove at the plate, as opposed to only 57 a year ago.
“Anytime you’re not doing well at the plate, it’s frustrating,” Hiura said Monday afternoon before the Brewers opened a three-game series against the rival Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. “But, at the end of the day, you’ve got to think it’s only three games. It’s really, really early in the season.
“There’s probably a lot of adrenaline running through (you) in the first series, especially with fans back in the stands. And playing a rival in the Twins; they’re a very competitive team and we’ve seen a lot of them.
“You definitely wish you could have performed better but there’s a lot of baseball to be played. There’s a new game today against the Cubs, which is definitely important for us. I’ve just got to put that in the back of my mind and move forward and focus on today.”
Hiura, who broke into the majors with a bang in 2019 (.938 OPS, 19 HRs, 49 RBI in 84 games), never got on track during the shortened ’20 season. He had trouble making contact at times, leading the league with 85 strikeouts in 217 at-bats while batting only .212 with 13 homers and 32 RBI in 59 games.
“Last year was such a weird year,” he said “For a lot of us, every game was kind of amplified. Whereas now, with everything back to normal, it’s getting back into that mindset and flow of the game where you know there are hundreds of at-bats to have later this year.
“You definitely want to be competing at the plate every single game. Every single at-bat matters. But it’s something where you do kind of relax a little knowing there’s plenty more games to be had.”
Playing first base for the first time, Hiura has said he wants to experience all the plays he can in games and learn from them. He would have preferred to wait a bit longer, however, for his first collision at the bag, which came Sunday when Twins’ base runner Mitch Garver banged into Hiura as he tried to feel a wide throw from on-the-move second baseman Kolten Wong.
“Kolten had great range getting to that ball,” Hiura said. “Obviously, with a slower hit (ball), you’ve got to get rid of it, off-balance throw. I’m just doing everything I can to, No. 1, try to catch the ball; No. 2, keep it in front and then, No. 3, keep the foot on the base. I ended up crossing the (base) line more than I wanted and his knee actually ended up going right into my thigh.
“So, we got a little knee in the thigh right there and a little stinger. Just a bruise there where it’s something you have to play through. And it shouldn’t affect me much.”
Yielding to Wong’s range
As a former second baseman, Hiura said one of the biggest adjustments he
has had to make moving to first base is the instinct to try to chase down every groundball within his reach. When the second baseman has a better play on the ball, it’s Hiura’s job to retreat back to the bag to take the throw.
And when you have a two-time Gold Glover at second base such as Wong, with his tremendous range, Hiura said it’s more important than ever to fight the urge to chase down balls far off the bag.
““Your first natural instinct as a (former) middle infielder is to go towards the ball, so that’s something I’ve had to learn over spring training,” Hiura said. A ball that’s hit to the right of me, my first instinct is take a step toward it and go get the ball, right?”
“Nowadays, it’s more of just understanding that there’s someone there that’s going to be able to make an easier play.”
All-Star Game to Denver
Major League Baseball is scheduled to announce Tuesday that this year’s All-Star Game will be moved to Coors Field in Denver, home of the Colorado Rockies, a person with direct knowledge of the decision told USA TODAY Sports.
The person spoke only on the condition of anonymity because MLB had yet to make the announcement official. The move was first reported by Altitude TV in Denver and ESPN.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett made a pitch to MLB about bringing the game to American Family Field last week.
Commissioner Rob Manfred announced the league was moving the game out of Atlanta because of the voting laws passed in Georgia that potentially can restrict voting access for people of color.
Yeager released from hospital
Just before the game against the Cubs, the Brewers got good news back home on assistant athletic trainer Dave Yeager, who was released from Froedtert Hospital.
Yeager had been monitored to make sure he was OK after having two episodes of light-headedness during and after the game Saturday night against Minnesota.
Yeager collapsed during his first episode while on the field attending to home plate umpire CB Bucknor, who had been hit in the throat by a pitch that caromed off the thigh of Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers.
He had the second episode in the clubhouse after the game and was taken to Froedtert.