The glove was not golden
Hiura focused on defense for his second season
Sixth in an 11-part Brewers positionby-position series. Today: Second base.
PHOENIX – No one ever has questioned Keston Hiura’s ability to hit a baseball.
When the Milwaukee Brewers selected Hiura with the ninth pick in the 2017 major-league draft, they immediately proclaimed him as the best hitter in the college ranks that year. It was hard to dispute that declaration af
ter the right-handed-hitting second baseman led Division I hitters with a .442 batting average and .567 on-base percentage at Cal-Irvine.
Hiura’s hitting prowess remained on display as he soared through the Brewers’ farm system in 23 months before reaching the major leagues May 14. In 222 games in the minors, he batted .317 with a .382 on-base percentage, .546 slugging percentage, 36 home runs and 122 runs batted in. Hiura played his best at Class AAA San Antonio last year, compiling a 1.088 OPS in 57 games with 19 homers.
With that background, expectations were high for the organization’s No. 1 prospect when he donned a Brewers uniform, but he might have exceeded them, considering the circumstances. Thrust into a playoff race on a team that would eventually surge to the National League’s second wild-card berth, Hiura batted .303 with 19 home runs and 49 RBI in 84 games, with a .368 OBP and .570 slugging percentage.
Despite playing just over half a season for the Brewers, Hiura slugged the third-most homers for a rookie in franchise history, was named the NL rookie of the month for July (.355, six HRs, 18 RBI) and the team’s player of the month in both July and August. He compiled those impressive numbers despite spending 11 days on the injured list with a strained left hamstring at the start of September.
“Keston did some really special things and set a really high bar for a player offensively,” manager Craig Counsell said. “Three hundred or so atbats into his career, he showed what he can do but when you’re that young, experience is going to teach you a lot still. He’s still gaining that, and I think that’s a reason to expect that he can continue to improve.”
Which should be a scary thought for opposing pitchers. Considering Hiura’s offensive pedigree, it stands to reason that he only will get better as he accumulates more at-bats and learns what major-league pitchers are trying to do to get him out.
There’s always room for improvement, and Hiura did strike out at a high rate – 107 whiffs in 348 plate appearances – after going down only 204 times in 965 plate appearances in the minors.
“I think he can improve on it, yeah,” Counsell said. “I think what we’re trying to improve on is the damage overall. If he can improve on his contact quality and ball/strike decisions, he’ll be a better offensive player.
“If you put the ball in play more often with quality contact, you’re going to get better results.”
The 23-year-old Hiura wasted no time getting back to work this spring, reporting to camp a week or so earlier than required. It helped he moved from his native California to the Phoenix area, but Hiura could have come and gone as he pleased prior to the first full-squad workout Tuesday but opted instead for daily work.
“I think there’s definitely room for improvement in everyone’s game,” said Hiura, who packs a lot of pop into his compact 6-foot, 202-pound frame. “Last year, with how much success I had at times, there’s still failures. You learn from those and try to move forward and get better.
“I’m happy for the most part with how things went for me last year. It was nice to get that first taste of the big leagues and contribute at that level. Obviously, there is a lot of stuff to work on and improve.
“That’s what the offseason and spring training are for.”
Which brings us to the fly in the ointment for Hiura – his defense. In 79 starts for the Brewers at second base, he committed 16 errors – most by any player at his position – for a woeful .949 fielding percentage and minus-four defensive runs saves.
The backdrop for Hiura’s defensive struggles made them less alarming, however, and possibly even expected. Because of a partially torn ligament in his throwing elbow, he did not play in the field during his final year in college, serving solely as a designated hitter to assure good health prior to the draft.
After a post-draft MRI revealed Hiura’s elbow had healed and wouldn’t require Tommy John reconstructive surgery, the Brewers eased him into play in the field, allowing him primarily to swing the bat while shaking off the rust with the glove. By the time he was summoned to the big leagues, Hiura had played only 100 games in the field (with 28 more after going back down in early June).
Most of Hiura’s errors came on throws as he continued to build strength in his elbow. In essence, it was on-the-job training at the big-league level.
“That was really just my second year back in the field (after being drafted),” Hiura said. “Up here, the game speeds up quite a bit. Balls are hit a lot harder. We do a lot of shifting. That was different for me. That gave me a lot of learning points, including mistakes I made, so I’m looking to be better there.
“To be able to get a full year defensively was a big goal for me, and obviously coming up and doing it at the top level.”
Counsell, who played in 574 games at second base in the big leagues, will be taking a more active role in coaching his team’s infield defense this spring. He has developed a plan for helping Hiura improve in the field but said there’s no substitute for game action.
“At times, we’ve been cautious (with defensive work) because we want him on the field to play in games,” Counsell said.
“We’re essentially making up for some of his lost development time up in the big leagues. We’re not playing meaningful games right now, so we can really work hard on that part of his game.”
After a significant roster overhaul during the offseason, several positions figure to be time shares if not outright platoons.
But Hiura, despite his relative inexperience, is expected to be the everyday second baseman, primarily because the Brewers want to see how much damage he can do at the plate.
Hiura, however, said he is taking nothing for granted as spring training gets going.
“At the end of the day, nothing is given to you,” he said. “You can’t be content with what you’ve done. You always want to keep working hard and get better. We have a lot of new faces on the infield, so I’m excited to play with them and learn how to work with them. It’s going to be fun, and it’s going to be interesting.
“I’m really excited for this year, more so than other years.”