keston hiura optioned

[jonescm128]

With Vogelbach hurt, Haudricourt speculated that the Brewers will need to call Hiura back up out of necessity (Link).

 

In just the past week David Stearns was quoted as saying the following:

 

“I think the way I look at it is, the first time we sent him down, I was probably doing daily check-ins to kind of monitor performance, see how we were doing. This time around I’m probably doing weekly check-ins to monitor performance, see how we’re doing. And I think that’s probably a little bit more fair to everyone involved, and probably gives Keston a little bit more time to get himself going. So I think from that perspective, there’s probably a little bit more space involved, probably a little bit more time involved.”

 

In addition to the quote above Counsell had said it was a situation that required some space.

 

I am sort of fascinated to see what the Brewers do with Hiura now that they have an immediate need at first base. I have a hard time picturing Jace Peterson and Daniel Robertson covering first base every day over an extended period of time, but there aren’t many other feasible internal options.

 

Where is Nottingham these days? He's been dropped and picked up so many times I can't keep track.

[djoctagone]

Where is Nottingham these days? He's been dropped and picked up so many times I can't keep track.

he's with class aaa tacoma. he was outrighted 12 june.

[Thurston Fluff]

With Vogelbach hurt, Haudricourt speculated that the Brewers will need to call Hiura back up out of necessity (Link).

 

In just the past week David Stearns was quoted as saying the following:

 

“I think the way I look at it is, the first time we sent him down, I was probably doing daily check-ins to kind of monitor performance, see how we were doing. This time around I’m probably doing weekly check-ins to monitor performance, see how we’re doing. And I think that’s probably a little bit more fair to everyone involved, and probably gives Keston a little bit more time to get himself going. So I think from that perspective, there’s probably a little bit more space involved, probably a little bit more time involved.”

 

In addition to the quote above Counsell had said it was a situation that required some space.

 

I am sort of fascinated to see what the Brewers do with Hiura now that they have an immediate need at first base. I have a hard time picturing Jace Peterson and Daniel Robertson covering first base every day over an extended period of time, but there aren’t many other feasible internal options.

 

When they had all the injuries in the outfield they managed to get some production with few legit everyday players for a while. If they can roll with what they have for a week or so it might help bridge the gap to give Hiura a little more time. Ideally I'd like to see him play for a couple months in AAA but if we can get by until he gets at least a month in to straighten things out it would be nice.

[markedman5]

Hiura recalled…….think they obviously would have preferred to give him more time but they didn’t really have a choice when Vogelbach went down.

[JCREW]

My hopes - ranked...

1. Keston makes it clear that we don't need to trade for a 1B.

2. Keston makes it clear that we do need to trade for a 1B.

[wildcat2237]

Hiura recalled…….think they obviously would have preferred to give him more time but they didn’t really have a choice when Vogelbach went down.

 

Ugh. I was really hoping Keston would spend a couple months down there. Recalling him now is more or less a repeat of the last go around.

 

Hiura's all around AAA numbers are good. However, he has 26 K's in 72 AB's in AAA. Per my math that is a 36% clip. No bueno.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Hiura recalled…….think they obviously would have preferred to give him more time but they didn’t really have a choice when Vogelbach went down.

 

Ugh. I was really hoping Keston would spend a couple months down there. Recalling him now is more or less a repeat of the last go around.

 

Yep. But they need someone to play 1B. If he sucks, you send him back to Nashville when you acquire someone to replace him. There is no easy fix in the system right now, though. Not with Zach Green striking out at a 40% clip in AAA. About the only other logical option is Weston Wilson, and they must not think he would add enough to put him on the 40-man.

[MrTPlush]

My hopes - ranked...

1. Keston makes it clear that we don't need to trade for a 1B.

2. Keston makes it clear that we do need to trade for a 1B.

 

This is basically Keston's last chance before the deadline to prove himself.

[folly412]

I can see it at positioned differently from last time. Last time it was all about having reset and fixed his issues and being the AAA Player of the Week and he should at least be a passable player now. This time, nothing is expected and he's up until they find a better option at 1B. If he produces, great. Otherwise, they fully intend to send him down once someone is found.

[ThisIsMyCrew]

Will be interesting to see his modified swing. Will the slide step vs large leg kick change results?

[Eye Black]

Hiura recalled…….think they obviously would have preferred to give him more time but they didn’t really have a choice when Vogelbach went down.

 

Ugh. I was really hoping Keston would spend a couple months down there. Recalling him now is more or less a repeat of the last go around.

 

Hiura's all around AAA numbers are good. However, he has 26 K's in 72 AB's in AAA. Per my math that is a 36% clip. No bueno.

Strikeout rate is based on plate appearances, not at bats.

 

Hiura over this most recent stint at Triple-A struck out 13 times in 49 plate appearances. That’s a 26.5% strikeout rate over an obviously very small sample. If you add in his first trip to Triple-A this year then his strikeout rate rises to 29.2% on the season (in Triple-A). As mentioned previously, Hiura’s strikeout rate at Triple-A in 2019 prior to his call-up was 26.3%.

[wildcat2237]

Hiura recalled…….think they obviously would have preferred to give him more time but they didn’t really have a choice when Vogelbach went down.

 

Ugh. I was really hoping Keston would spend a couple months down there. Recalling him now is more or less a repeat of the last go around.

 

Hiura's all around AAA numbers are good. However, he has 26 K's in 72 AB's in AAA. Per my math that is a 36% clip. No bueno.

Strikeout rate is based on plate appearances, not at bats.

 

Hiura over this most recent stint at Triple-A struck out 13 times in 49 plate appearances. That’s a 26.5% strikeout rate over an obviously very small sample. If you add in his first trip to Triple-A this year then his strikeout rate rises to 29.2% on the season (in Triple-A). As mentioned previously, Hiura’s strikeout rate at Triple-A in 2019 prior to his call-up was 26.3%.

 

Hmmmmm, I guess the bottom line is that it should not be surprising the guy has struck out in 33.5% of his major league plate appearances.

 

If you are going to whiff at a 26% clip in AAA, that percentage is going to go up in the bigs.

[MrTPlush]

Honestly I care how much Hiura is whiffing compared to actually putting the ball in play. The K-rate is great and all, but he is walking at like a 14% clip at AAA...MLB pitchers don't walk Hiura at that kind of rate. At the MLB level they blow it past him and he strikes out instead of walking him, hence a walk rate less than half that at the MLB level. I don't think it is totally wrong to look at his rate of striking out compared to ABs instead of PAs.

 

His low K-rate at AAA is pretty misleading because I doubt he has magically found out how to walk twice as often. That being said he was still striking out less his second go around...but we are talking really small sample sizes and the K numbers still royally suck.

[Warning Track Power]

Hiura ABs today look much better than they did prior to him going down. That is promising.

[MrTPlush]

Hiura ABs today look much better than they did prior to him going down. That is promising.

 

For reference, he was 1-3 with a walk his last ‘debut’ after coming back from AAA.

[tmwiese55]

Hit a couple balls hard at least and first AB would've been a HR in almost any other park. Generally positive sign. However, I didn't see enough swings to make any guess or opinion. Most of my views before came from seeing his follow through on swing and misses. I did miss some pitches but guess it's a good thing I didn't see those today, haha. If he can just be what he was in 2020 it would be a huge boost to the O (not trying to be greedy for 2019 version).

[yourout]

He will have some early success and the longer he is around Maestro Haines the worse he will get.

[Warning Track Power]

Hiura ABs today look much better than they did prior to him going down. That is promising.

 

For reference, he was 1-3 with a walk his last ‘debut’ after coming back from AAA.

Certainly. However, I was more referring to the look of the AB. Less leg kick. Less uppercut. One game but positive results from prior Hiura.

[rickh150]

Doing the opposite Constanza thing might help Hiura…

 

[MrTPlush]

Hiura ABs today look much better than they did prior to him going down. That is promising.

 

For reference, he was 1-3 with a walk his last ‘debut’ after coming back from AAA.

Certainly. However, I was more referring to the look of the AB. Less leg kick. Less uppercut. One game but positive results from prior Hiura.

 

There doesn't appear to be any change to the leg kick at all:

 

5/31

 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=0a1a1725-647a-41fe-9f74-7a9e4f714d86

 

6/23

 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=714570ac-5d1f-490f-9e58-645dbc592982

 

4/16

 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=52f72c20-b260-4170-b7eb-7af5eddcb79d

 

Looks like all the changes Hiura has made this year came after the first demotion and no one really pointed them out. It looks like there was a slight reduction in the leg kick after the first demotion. Hard to say though, if he did it wasn't much. Prior he was get his foot solidly above the knee and when he came back in May it looks like it now stays slightly below the knee most of the time. It appears he may be trying to get his front foot down sooner...but hard to tell. If you look at videos where a pitch is getting blow past him his front foot is still off the ground when the ball is almost to the plate.

 

The major change is how he holds the bat. Used to be away from the body and low. Now it is up at the top of his head and tighter to the body. However, again, this change happened after the first demotion...it isn't recent to the last demotion.

 

Really trying to dump the big leg kick might help his timing, but I think it would be a big detriment to his power and probably not the preferred method to an attempt to fix a 1B.

[folly412]

The stationary kick, where the foot is coming down practically where it started seems awkward for balance. Wonder if they've tried a more open stance with a fairly level swing of the leg vs. the high kick. A la Luis Gonzalez.

[MrTPlush]

Hiura's feet are actually not overly different than Ryan Braun's were...minus Braun not trying to knee himself in the face on every swing. I think someone has actually mentioned Braun's stance/feet before. Braun also didn't move the front foot much and had a small kick.

 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/sporty-videos?playId=af7023a5-0c70-40f7-9de6-1bf2356cb89e

 

I am not sure how fixable Hiura is. If he is just that slow to recognize pitches a smaller leg kick won't necessarily help much. If he has poor pitch recognition he would see more improvement adopting a more defensive stance/swing. However, that's going to dramatically effect power. Then Hiura is a lighter hitting first baseman who still probably strikes out a bunch. Hardly a valuable player.

 

Luis Urias has a pretty big leg kick too. Difference is Urias has a somewhat smaller leg kick and if you slow down a video Luis Urias starts putting his foot down before or as the pitcher is throwing the ball. Keston Hiura is often times not starting that same movement until the ball has left the pitchers hand. It isn't shocking the ball is blazing past him when he has that big of a leg kick and starts putting it down so late. It sure make his whole swing seem rushed/panicky.

[JCREW]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/fangraphs-audio-eric-longenhagen-and-dan-szymborski-do-frisk-assessment/

 

Dan and Eric talked about Keston from about 43:30 to the end of the podcast.

 

They mentioned that when he faces a fastball above 93mph (including MiLB), he whiffed 180 times and put the ball in play 126 times, roughly a 3 whiff to 2 BIP ratio. By comparison, Wander Franco has a 1 whiff to 3 BIP ratio.

 

I'm really interested to see what he does on those sorts of pitches going forward. Essentially, can he tune back in to a big league fastball?

[rickh150]

Hey, a HR…

That’s a start.

[tigerbrew]