Keston Hiura


Keston Wee Hing Natsuo Hiura is an American professional baseball second baseman for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball.

Career

Hiura attended Valencia High School in Valencia, Santa Clarita, California. Playing for the school's baseball team, Hiura batted.500 with 14 home runs and 30 runs batted in in his senior year as the Vikings won the Foothill League.
Undrafted out of high school, Hiura played college baseball at University of California, Irvine for the Anteaters. As a freshman in 2015, he hit.330 with a.392 on-base percentage, a.520 slugging percentage, 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. After the season, Hiura played for the United States collegiate national team. In his junior year, Hiura batted.442 with a.567 OBP. He was named Big West Conference Player of the Year.
The Milwaukee Brewers selected Hiura in the first round, with the ninth overall selection, in the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. 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.
MLB.com ranked Hiura as Milwaukee's top prospect going into the 2018 season. He began the 2018 season with the Carolina Mudcats of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League 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. Hiura also won the 2018 Arizona Fall League MVP Hiura finished the year with Biloxi, batting.272 with six home runs, twenty RBIs, and 11 stolen bases in 73 games.
Hiura began 2019 with the San Antonio Missions. On May 14, his contract was selected and he was called up to the major leagues. He made his major league debut on May 14 versus the Philadelphia Phillies.
On June 3, 2019, despite a strong showing in the majors, Hiura was sent back down to AAA to the San Antonio Missions in order to make room for Travis Shaw. Hiura returned to the Brewers on June 28 along with infielder Tyler Saladino, as Shaw returned to AAA and utility player Hernán Pérez was designated for assignment. On July 28, Hiura homered in the bottom of the 10th inning against the Chicago Cubs for his first career walk-off hit. In 2019, on defense he led all major league second basemen in errors, with 16.

Personal life

Hiura was born to a Chinese mother and a Japanese father. He grew up a Los Angeles Dodgers fan.