Keston Wee Hing Natsuo Hiura (born August 2, 1996) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

in the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

organization. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

and

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

. Hiura was born in

Valencia, California Valencia is an unincorporated community in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. The area, west of Interstate 5, is expanding with residential development and already includes major commercial and industrial parks. It stra ...

and attended Valencia High School. He later played three seasons of

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, earning conference accolades and spending time with the United States collegiate national team in the offseason. Hiura forwent his final year of college eligibility and signed with the Brewers after they selected him in the first round of the

2017 Major League Baseball draft The 2017 Major League Baseball draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on June 12, while the remai ...

. Hiura spent three seasons in the Brewers

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

and was acclaimed as the organization's top prospect by his second minor league season. In 2019, he made his major league debut and posted a .303

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 84 games. In the following three seasons, Hiura's statistics regressed, including a

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

(NL)-leading 85 strikeouts in 2020 and a .168 batting average in 2021.

Amateur career

Hiura attended Valencia High School in

Valencia, Santa Clarita, California Valencia is a neighborhood in Santa Clarita located within Los Angeles County, California. It is one of the four unincorporated communities (along with Saugus, Newhall, and Canyon Country) that merged to create the city of Santa Clarita ...

. Playing for the school's baseball team, Hiura batted .500 with 14

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 30

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs) in his senior year as the Vikings won the

Foothill League The Foothill League is a high school athletic conference in the Santa Clarita Valley area of Los Angeles County, California that is affiliated with the CIF Southern Section. All current members are part of the William S. Hart Union High School Dist ...

. Undrafted out of high school, Hiura played

at the

for the

Anteaters Anteaters are the four extant mammal species in the suborder Vermilingua (meaning "worm tongue"), commonly known for eating ants and termites. The individual species have other names in English and other languages. Together with sloths, they ar ...

. As a freshman in 2015, he hit .330 with a .392

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batting (baseball), batter reaches base (baseball), base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA ...

(OBP), a .520

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

(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. 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 The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's NCAA Division I, Division I. The conference was origina ...

Player of the Year.

Professional career

Milwaukee Brewers

The

selected Hiura in the first round, with the ninth overall selection, in the

. He signed and was assigned to the Arizona Brewers of the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it fo ...

, 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 The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a town on the outskirts of Appleton in the Fox Cities, and are nam ...

of the

Single-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams cl ...

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

where he finished the season, posting a .333 batting average with 15 RBIs and seven walks in 27 games.

MLB.com MLB.com is the official site of Major League Baseball and is overseen by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P. (a subsidiary of MLB). MLB.com is a source of baseball-related information, including baseball news, statistics, and sports colum ...

ranked Hiura as Milwaukee's top prospect going into the 2018 season. He began the 2018 season with the

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, and play their home games ...

of the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

and was promoted to the

Biloxi Shuckers The Biloxi Shuckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League (1964–present), Southern League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and are named in ref ...

of the Double-A 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 The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

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 The San Antonio Missions are a Minor League Baseball team based in San Antonio, Texas. The Missions compete in the Texas League as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Nelson W. W ...

. 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 The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. On June 3, 2019, despite a strong showing in the majors, Hiura was sent back down to Triple-A to the

in order to make room for

Travis Shaw Travis Richard Shaw (born April 16, 1990) is an American former professional baseball infielder who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for three MLB teams—the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays� ...

. Hiura returned to the Brewers on June 28 along with infielder Tyler Saladino, as Shaw returned to Triple-A 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 The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

for his first career walk-off hit. In 2019, on defense he led all major league second basemen in errors, with 16. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Hiura batted .212/.297/.410 with 13 home runs and 32 RBI in 59 games. He led the National League in strikeouts (85), as well as putouts (66) and errors (16) by a second baseman. Hiura had a .168 batting average in 2021. In 2022, Hiura played in 80 games for Milwaukee and hit .226/.316/.449 with 14 home runs and 32 RBI. On January 13, 2023, Hiura agreed to a one-year, $2.2 million contract with the Brewers, avoiding salary arbitration. On March 25, the Brewers announced that Hiura, who was out of options, did not make the

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster. Hiura was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

two days later after the team signed

Luke Voit Louis Linwood Voit III (born February 13, 1991) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New Yor ...

. Hiura went unclaimed on waivers and was sent outright to the Triple-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

on March 28. In 85 games for Triple–A Nashville, he batted .308/.395/.565 with 23 home runs and 77 RBI. On October 4, Hiura elected free agency.

Detroit Tigers

On February 16, 2024, Hiura signed a minor league contract with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. In 49 games with Triple-A

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

, he hit .232/.312/.401 with 6 home runs and 24 RBI. Hiura was released by the Tigers organization on June 3.

Los Angeles Angels

On June 11, 2024, Hiura signed a minor league contract with the

. In 19 games for the Triple–A

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team that plays in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. Based in South Jordan, Utah, the team plays its home games at The Ballpark at Am ...

, he hit .360/.429/.853 with 12 home runs and 21 RBI. On July 5, the Angels selected Hiura's contract, adding him to the major league roster. In 10 games for Los Angeles, he went 4–for–27 (.148) with one RBI. On July 23, Hiura was designated for assignment by the Angels. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Salt Lake on July 27. Hiura elected free agency on October 2.

Colorado Rockies

On January 15, 2025, Hiura signed a minor league contract with the

. In 46 appearances for the Triple-A

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

, he batted .243/.360/.467 with nine home runs and 31 RBI. On May 31, the Rockies selected Hiura's contract, adding him to their active roster. In eight appearances for Colorado, he went 4-for-18 (.222) with one RBI. On June 16, Hiura was designated for assignment by the Rockies. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Albuquerque on June 18.

Personal life

Hiura was born to a

Chinese-American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

mother and a

Japanese-American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in ranking to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

father. He grew up a

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

fan.

References

External links

UC Irvine Anteaters bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hiura, Keston 1996 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players All-American college baseball players American baseball players of Chinese descent American baseball players of Japanese descent Arizona Complex League Brewers players Arizona League Brewers players Baseball outfielders Baseball players from Santa Clarita, California Biloxi Shuckers players Carolina Mudcats players Colorado Rockies players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball second basemen Milwaukee Brewers players Nashville Sounds players People from Valencia, Santa Clarita, California Peoria Javelinas players Salt Lake Bees players San Antonio Missions players Toledo Mud Hens players UC Irvine Anteaters baseball players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players 21st-century American sportsmen