The Milwaukee Brewers 2017 draft class has amounted to a whole lot of nothing. Tritsten Lutz, selected 34th overall, was released earlier this year. Once promising pitchers Alec Bettinger and Bowden Francis never panned out. Now their ninth overall selection, Keston Hiura, has elected free agency and is no longer a member of the organization.
Keston Hiura elects free agency and leaves the Milwaukee Brewers organization.
Fans belief in Keston Hiura has been split over the past few seasons. He often was a victim of inconsistent playing time and despite a high strike out rate in the majors his ability to slug the baseball left hope that he would start producing like he did in 2019 when he debuted.
During spring training this year Milwaukee elected to remove him from the 40-man roster. Seeing how that was his first time being designated for assignment he was unable to refuse an outright assignment to the minor leagues. Now that the season is over he gained the power to elect free agency and reportedly has done so.
In Triple-A this season Keston Hiura .308/.395/.565 in 85 games. He finished the year with 23 home runs, 77 RBI, and a 24% strikeout rate. Despite these good numbers he never got promoted to the big leagues.
Electing free agency may allow for Keston Hiura to get a big league opportunity. He may have to earn his way onto a roster as a non-roster invitee to spring training, but landing in the correct organization could be a major benefit for him. It will be interesting to see which team elects to take a flier on him.
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