Former Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Keston Hiura is getting a chance to potentially return to the big leagues with the Detroit Tigers.
The former top prospect has signed a deal with the Tigers including an invite to big league Spring Training, as reported by Jon Heyman. If he does make the MLB roster, Hiura will make $2 million in the 2024 season. The 27-year-old last played in the show in 2022, hitting .226 with 14 home runs and 32 RBI in 80 games. Last year, he was strictly in Triple-A but performed well, smacking 23 long balls and slashing .308.
Hiura was selected ninth overall in the 2017 MLB Draft by the Brewers and only took two years to make his MLB debut, featuring in 84 contests in 2019. He batted .303 with 19 HRs and 49 RBI but did struggle to make contact at moments, striking out 107 times.
While Hiura isn’t exactly a superstar, he has an opportunity to reignite his career in the Majors. His days playing second base are in the past though as he’s now strictly a first baseman and left fielder. Hiura heads into Spring Training on a minor league deal and if he does swing it well, there’s a good chance Hiura is on the Tigers’ MLB roster come Opening Day.
Right now, Spencer Torkelson is the starting first baseman in Detroit while Mark Canha is the backup although he’s mostly an outfielder. In fact, Canha is slotted to be the starting LF, so those two will be Hiura’s competition for playing time in Motown.
It will be interesting to see how the former first-rounder does in Grapefruit League action.
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