Milwaukee Brewers former ninth overall draft selection Keston Hiura has found a new home for the 2024 season. The UC Irvine product spent seven years in the Brew Crews organization and had big league appearances in the 2019-2022 seasons. Prior to the start of last season he was designated for assignment and spent all year in the minor leagues.
Due to not enough MLB service time and last spring being his first time removed from the 40-man roster he was unable to elect free agency until the end of the season On February 16, 2024 he found a new home with an American League Central team.
Keston Hiura has signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers.
Jon Heyman first reported that Hiura was signing with the Tigers. He later added that it was a minor league deal that includes an invite to big league camp. Because Hiura did not play in the big leagues last year he is ineligible to receive the three built in opt out dates that were introduced into veteran players contracts under the relatively new collective bargaining agreement.
How did Keston Hiura perform with the Milwaukee Brewers?
During his tenure with Milwaukee Hiura had no issues slugging the ball at any level. Across 938 major league at-bats he slugged .453 with 50 home runs and 44 doubles and his career minor league slugging percentage across 1409 at-bats was .546.
Strikeouts and defense were the two biggest issues for Hiura while with the Brewers. At the big league level he struck out 36% of the time and was unable to find his footing at either second base or first base. In the minor leagues last year he split time primarily between first base and left field and cut his strikeout rate down to 22.8%.
Will Keston Hiura get a big league opportunity with the Detroit Tigers?
On top of the Tigers depth chart at first base is Spencer Torkelson. There are opportunities for him to earn at-bats at designated hitter, second base, or the outfield if he can play well enough to earn a 40-man roster spot. Hiura has historically dominated in Triple-A and the minor leagues so it may not take long for him to get a second big league chance with Detroit.
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