Since Keston Hiura has been recalled from The Missions (AAA) on June 28th, he has been destroying opposing pitchers. BREW MATHs digs into his silky smooth swing and attempts to quantify his greatness. Let the analysis begin!!!
CONTEXT VIA SLASH COMPARISON
It is easy to wrap your head around Hiura’s offensive skill when we compare the season he is having with Yeli’s ‘MVP 2018’…
Hiura (Rookie / 2019): .327 / .384 / .613 (.997 OPS)
Yelich (MVP / 2018): .326 / .402 / .598 (1.000 OPS)
While we are slashing, we also should note that Hiura’s numbers have not changed much from AAA Ball…
Hiura (AAA / 2019): .329 / .407 / .687 (1.088 OPS)
The kid is good and is not showing any signs of slowing down. Of note, his Major League Production has been reflective of his scouting report:
NOTABLE OPS SPLITS
If you keep in mind that the average MLB OPS in 2019 is .756, it quickly becomes clear that Hiura is good at everything…
Vs. RHP: 1.012 / Vs. LHP: .939
Home: 1.184 / Away: .886
Power pitchers: 1.426 / Finesse Pitchers: .945
And he even gets better when pressure is applied…
Men On: .998 / When the game is “late and close”: 1.187
Where he truly excels is hitting the ball to all fields… and the numbers more than support this…
PULL: 1.842 / MIDDLE: 1.397 / OPPOSITE: 1.136
The best news of all is that the more he is being used, the better he performs…
MAY: .882 (58 Plate Appearances)
JUN: .623 (22 PA’s)
JUL: 1.177 (84 PA’s)
HIURA IS ULTRA-AGGRESSIVE
If anyone has watched Keston Hiura play, it quickly becomes apparent that he goes to the plate to swing. If we break down his 99 batted balls at The MLB Level via STATCAST, anyone can see how his hits translate to production:
One look at the chart above shows us that Hiura excels in everything that would suggest he is a power hitter:
- He hits the ball very hard
- He puts it in the air, and
- Doesn’t waste his time with weakly hit balls
However, there is a trade-off for being this aggressive and it is reflected in his rate stats…
Despite the higher than League Average strike out rate and lower than League Average walk rate… his plate production more than offsets his deficiencies in these categories. As Keston becomes a more disciplined hitter, Major League Pitchers will have even more to worry about when he is in the box. This is especially true since he hits almost every pitch with authority:
The only pitch that Hiura has struggled with at The Major League Level is the curveball. However, in the context of how he hits the other pitches, this has not served to hamper his production.
HIURA’S SWING… A THING OF ART
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
- Hiura is producing at about the same clip as Christian Yelich did in his MVP Year… he is rookie.
- He is living up to all of the scouting hype and his “power plus” bat seems to be translating nicely at The MLB Level.
- Keston is very good in almost every situation and performs even better when pressure is applied.
- Anyone who has watched Hiura as a Milwaukee Brewer knows he hits to all fields with authority.
- Mr. Hiura is ultra-aggressive and swings at 52.0% of pitches… he goes to the plate to hit!
- This would be more problematic if he did not make contact 66.0% of the time.
- A quick look at his heat map tells us everything you need to know
- Keston has all the tools to excel as a power-hitter on The Major League Level:
- Every STATCAST Metric that would indicate he has power is well above The MLB Average.
- He hits the ball much harder than the average player and puts it into the air at a higher clip.
- While the rookie strikes out more and walks less than you might hope, these are areas that can be worked on.
- One can teach a hitter to be more patient/selective but you cannot teach a player to hit with the skill Hiura has.
- Everyone who pays attention to The Crew, sees it… this kid is a generational-type talent. Brewers Fans can all feel good that Keston Hiura is on their side… and should be for quite some time.
