One scout said this offseason at the Arizona Fall League, “We all talk about the bat of Vladdy, with obvious reason, but outside of Vladdy, I’d call Keston Hiura the purest power bat I saw out in Arizona. He’s just a special, special kid.” The scout continued, “Have you seen my chew?” turning his lip inside out, “Ah, there it is,” then after a pause, “I’m big league, baby!” Keston Hiura had an elbow injury while playing for the Fightin’ Licorices at UC Irvine. The Licorices used him at DH, but obviously that won’t be an option with the Brewers, unless Selig moves them back to the AL like he moves his toupee back when there’s wind coming from behind him. News says Hiura’s elbow is fine, and he should be able to play 2nd base as soon as Ape One. (Ape One is what I call April 1st). If, Keston is, however, er, um, ya know, blocked at 2nd base by Jonathan Schoop, doesn’t matter if he’s ready. The Brewers barely played Schoop after he was traded to Milwaukee and they don’t seem at all committed to him, so Hiura could win the job out of Spring Training and Schoop acts as a utility man. Or is simply non-tendered (deadline in November 30th) or traded. Either way, it does not seem like Hiura is far off while being far out. (Play on words points!) Anyway, what can we expect from Keston Hiura for 2019 fantasy baseball?
Usually I drop a GIF in of the player hitting here so you can see what I see, because, brucely, not a ton of these players are as known as, say, Jed Lowrie. Why Jed Lowrie? Not entirely sure, but why not? If you don’t like Jed Lowrie, then you’re a Zed Zeroey! Any hoo! No clip because all the clips I found were bores. Scouts like to sit behind home plate and take the least interesting angles of players. Not saying they need a four-man video crew with tungsten lights set up to soften the shadows, but, yeah, that’s what I am saying. The video sucked for Hiura. Bunch of smacked opposite way doubles and a few back up-the-middle singles. Lowercase yay! This sounds pessimistic, but I actually have owned Huira for the better part of two years in two separate NL-Only leagues, and I’m a fan. Think there’s a chance for a 18/7/.270 season. That sounds downright–Don’t say Lowrie, Don’t say Lowrie, Don’t say Lowrie, Don’t say Lowrie– Lowrie-ish! (Even worse, I thought of saying ‘what Brett Lawrie was supposed to be’ — woof!) In Double-A last year, Hiura hit 6 HRs with 11 SBs and .272 in only 73 games, but his bat will play, and, as mentioned above about how he looked in Arizona, he destroyed the AFL. As Prospector Mike said a few weeks ago, “The player I’m most excited to see is Keston Hiura (2B), the Brew Crew’s top prospect with the 70 hit tool. He’s kicking keisters in the AFL – hitting .343 with four bombs, five steals, and 27 runs batted in (the league lead). He looks as good as Grey is bad.” Hey! Not cool! So, yes, we’re all fans — giving those Keston props in fast motion and black & white — but playing time, playing time, playing time. If Schoop is non-tendered or traded, I could see changing his projections, but for now I’ll give Keston Huira the 2019 projections of 30/8/24/.274/3 in 212 ABs.
