Keston Hiura

Keston Hiura
Milwaukee Brewers
Second baseman
Born: (1996-08-02) August 2, 1996
Valencia, California
Bats: Right Throws: Right

Keston Wee Hing Natsuo Hiura (born August 2, 1996) is an American professional baseball second baseman in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He was the Brewers' first round pick in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.

Career

Hiura attended Valencia High School in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California.[1][2] Playing for the school's baseball team, Hiura batted .500 with 14 home runs and 30 runs batted in (RBIs) in his senior year.[3]

Undrafted out of high school, Hiura played college baseball at University of California, Irvine for the Anteaters.[4] As a freshman in 2015, he hit .330 with a .392 on-base percentage (OBP), a .520 slugging percentage (SLG), seven home runs, and 52 RBIs over 56 games. As a sophomore in 2016, he hit .358 with a .436 OBP, .559 SLG, seven home runs, and 41 RBIs over 53 games.[5][6] After the season, Hiura played for the United States collegiate national team.[7][8] In his junior year, Hiura batted .442 with a .567 OBP. He was named Big West Conference Player of the Year.[9]

The Milwaukee Brewers selected Hiura in the first round, with the ninth overall selection, in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.[10] He signed and was assigned to the Arizona Brewers of the Rookie-level Arizona League, and after batting .435 with four home runs, 18 RBIs and a 1.339 OPS in 15 games, was promoted to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers of the Class A Midwest League where he finished the season, posting a .333 batting average with 15 RBIs and seven walks in 27 games.[11]

MLB.com ranked Hiura as Milwaukee's top prospect going into the 2018 season.[12] He began the 2018 season with the Carolina Mudcats of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League[13] and was promoted to the Biloxi Shuckers of the Class AA Southern League on June 1 after hitting .320 with seven home runs, 23 RBIs, and a .911 OPS in 50 games for Carolina.[14] Hiura finished the year with Biloxi, batting .272 with six home runs, twenty RBIs, and 11 stolen bases in 73 games.[15]

Personal life

Hiura is of half Chinese and half Japanese descent.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Sondheimer, Eric (May 11, 2014). "Valencia shortstop Keston Hiura leads the state in home runs". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  2. ↑ "Hiura sending a powerful message". Archive.signalscv.com. May 10, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  3. ↑ "Valencia's Hiura named Player of the Year". Archive.signalscv.com. May 31, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  4. ↑ "Keston Hiura commits to UC Irvine". Archive.signalscv.com. November 1, 2013. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  5. ↑ Morales, Robert (February 15, 2017). "College baseball preview: UC Irvine's Keston Hiura 'a special hitter'". Orange County Register. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  6. ↑ Keisser, Bob (April 28, 2016). "UC Irvine CF Keston Hiura is a complete package – with a glowing endorsement". Orange County Register. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  7. ↑ "From overlooked to overachieving: Hiura represents USA". Archive.signalscv.com. July 12, 2016. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  8. ↑ Helfand, Zach (February 15, 2017). "Irvine's Keston Hiura has transformed from obscurity into preseason All-American". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  9. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/sports/tn-dpt-sp-hiura-uci-baseball-mlb-draft-20170608-story.html
  10. ↑ McCalvy, Adam (January 20, 2016). "Brewers draft 2B Keston Hiura No. 9 overall | Milwaukee Brewers". M.brewers.mlb.com. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Keston Hiura Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  12. ↑ "Hiura headlines new-look Brewers Top 30 Prospects list". MLB.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Hiura breaks out at plate for Mudcats". MiLB.com. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  14. ↑ https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/mlb/brewers/2018/06/01/brewers-promote-top-prospect-keston-hiura-class-aa-biloxi/661088002/
  15. ↑ "Keston Hiura Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved October 12, 2018.
  16. ↑ "UC Irvine's Keston Hiura could be Anteaters' highest draft pick". Orange County Register. June 9, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
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