Hiura’s a hit despite arm injury
Team takes college second baseman with No. 9 pick
The Milwaukee Brewers loved Keston Hiura’s bat too much to pass on him in the first round of the major league baseball draft.
How much did the Brewers love Hiura’s bat? So much that they made the second baseman the No. 9 pick Monday night despite an elbow injury that prevented him from playing in the field for UC Irvine all spring and could require surgery.
“He is the best college hitter in the country,” said Wynn Pelzer, the Brewers’ area scout for Southern California who was the point man on Hiura.
The big question is: Will Hiura’s elbow injury need Tommy John surgery that might delay his professional debut as long as a year? The Brewers said they examined the medicals on Hiura as much as a team is allowed prior to the draft and were confident the elbow issue wasn’t significant enough to pass on drafting
him.
“We did a lot of work on that,” Brewers amateur scouting director Tod Johnson said. “We’ve seen numerous images of his arm and elbow to validate what we’re getting there. Nothing is ever a certainty in a medical situation like this. We do believe it won’t be an issue and he’ll be back to throwing in the relative near term.
“We’ll work through that with our doctors but we have a pretty high level of comfort that this won’t be a long-term issue for him and he’ll be back throwing and playing defensively for us. I don’t think surgery is the first option at this point.”
What if Hiura needs surgery, however? And what if it’s Tommy John surgery, which normally sidelines a player for a year or so? He received a platelet-enriched plasma injection in January, which often is a step used to attempt to avoid Tommy John surgery.
“There has been a lot of speculation about this player throughout the spring because he hasn’t thrown,” general manager David Stearns said. “Through the process leading up to the draft, you’re privy to some medical
information. That medical information gave us comfort in making this selection.
“What we do know is we’ve got a premium bat at a premium position, and that’s very exciting. Regardless of what the program is going forward from a treatment perspective, we’re very excited to have Keston a part of the organization and believe he’s going to be a quality Brewer for a long time.
“If surgery becomes a reality, it would become an extended absence, and that is something we’re prepared to deal with.”
Hiura said he first injured the elbow in April 2016 and aggravated it again in November, leading to the decision to have the PRP injection and avoid playing in the field this spring. The initial diagnosis was a partial tear of the UCL in the elbow.
“I got in the position I’m in today because of my bat,” said Hiura, who is of Japanese-Chinese descent and grew up in Valencia, Calif. “It was really important for me to play this year and be able to swing. My goal is to start throwing again but I didn’t want to potentially hurt myself by rushing into it.
“Right now, it feels good. It hasn’t bothered me all year. I won’t know if it’s completely healed until I begin throwing again and get another MRI. It never bothered me when I swing or do other activities. My goal is to not have surgery. I was told by the doctors it was not required. I’m looking forward to seeing if it’s good to go and good to throw.”
Hiura, 20, a 5-foot-11, 185-pound junior, certainly wasn’t affected at the plate by his elbow issue. He was the top hitter in the college ranks with a .442 average, .567 on-base percentage and .693 slugging percentage. He had eight home runs and projects to continue to progress as a power hitter.
“We think he’s going to be an impact offensive player who has a chance to play a premium position at second base,” Johnson said. “He has also played some outfield at UC Irvine.”
Pelzer said it was a challenge to scout a player who wasn’t able to play in the field all season but believes Hiura’s offensive upside was too high to ignore.
“It was a pleasure for me as a scout to watch this guy perform offensively,” Pelzer said. “He’s a premium bat at a premium position. I think he’s going to be a really good player.
“I saw a video of him playing shortstop coming out of high school and he was a good shortstop. You take the bat because it was the best college bat in the country. I think he will be a fine defender when he gets back on the field.
He’s a great kid, a hard worker, team leader. Everybody respected him. He was a mentor to the younger guys. He’s just a great kid.”
The Brewers went for offense as well with pick No. 34 of Competitive Balance Round A when they took Tristen Lutz, a prep outfielder from Arlington, Texas. Lutz’s calling card is right-handed power, which he put on display with 10 home runs in 95 at-bats this season to go with a .432 batting average.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder bats out of a deep crouch and has shown good pitch recognition and an ability to use the whole field. He shows good instincts on the bases and has enough speed to play center field but probably projects to a corner outfield spot, where his strong arm will play.
Lutz has a scholarship commitment to Texas.
In the second round (46th overall pick), the Brewers went for pitching by taking Caden Lemons, a prep right-hander from Vestavia Hills, Ala. Lemons is 6-foot-6, 175 pounds and expected to fill out but already shows good velocity that reaches the high 90s (mph). He has a scholarship to Ole Miss.
Lemons went 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA during his senior season with 79 strikeouts in 62 innings.