The Brewers are not assigning a timetable to Keston Hiura’s latest attempt to get back on track with a stint at Triple-A Nashville, although common sense says the second one will be more extended than the first.
“We didn’t probably get the results we wanted after a short stint in Triple-A and so it’s certainly possible that it’s longer,” manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday, when the Brewers promoted Jace Peterson back to the big leagues in the spot vacated by Hiura’s demotion the day before. “We weren’t getting production and that’s the bottom line. We need to have better production. There needs to be just less swing and miss in the strike zone. That’s probably the thing you just get worried about.
“Keston’s got a plan and he’s ready to attack it, and hopefully we get good results.”
The Brewers have tried this once before with Hiura, a 24-year-old former first-round Draft pick who is so highly-regarded as a hitter based on his Minor League track record and a power-packed Major League debut in 2019, that he was moved to what’s typically considered an offense-first position -- first base -- after Milwaukee signed Gold Glove Award-winning second baseman Kolten Wong last winter.
But Hiura hasn’t produced. He was hitting .152 in the opening days of May when the Brewers sent Hiura home to California to take a break from baseball and be with his mother as she undergoes chemotherapy treatment. Then he played nine games at Triple-A Nashville and absolutely mashed, with six doubles and three home runs in 32 at-bats to earn a trip back to the big leagues.
When he returned, he performed even more poorly at the plate, however. Hiura was 2-for-29 with 16 strikeouts before the Brewers sent him down again Monday.
Swing and miss has always been part of Hiura’s game, but now it has spiraled out of control. His strikeout rate is 39.3 percent. Most troublesome of all, per FanGraphs, is Hiura’s 59.1 percent contact rate on pitches in the strike zone -- by far the worst in the Majors, and eight percentage points lower than runner-up Akil Baddoo of the Tigers.
Everyone has a theory about whether Hiura’s problem is chiefly mental, mechanical, or equal parts of each. Counsell is certain the issue is at least partly mechanical, and while difficult for any player to execute a complete overhaul in the middle of a season, Counsell does expect Hiura to make some changes at Nashville.
"I've been on the other side of that. I've been an instructor in the Minor Leagues when a guy comes down,” said Brewers hitting coach Andy Haines. “It's always tricky to have answers when they go down because it's not the Major League game. It's not quite the same environment. … I would say the last few days, Keston is really close to coming out on the other side of this. I'm optimistic by nature, I have to be. I'm also, I think, realistic. He's had a cycle where he has struggled and there's no way around it.
“It's also been this incredible learning opportunity for him to have to reflect on himself. What makes him great, what causes some struggles. It takes time, unfortunately. It's not an overnight thing. That's the most painful thing about it -- you can't rush it sometimes. And, you know, the Major Leagues, it just doesn't wait on anybody. It just keeps going, man, like, it hammers down. So I would just say Keston is really close to coming out the other side of this and I'm excited to watch it.”
Here’s how Counsell stated Hiura’s chief challenge: “He's not going to stand on his head down in Triple-A or anything like that, but I do think that -- and we talked about this yesterday -- you get pitches to hit and those pitches have to be hit. You can't survive without hitting those pitches. I'm not trying to be flippant about it or obvious about it, but that's what the game boils down to.”
Ashby moves to ‘pen in Minors
The Brewers are shifting left-hander Aaron Ashby from the Triple-A Nashville starting rotation to the bullpen in anticipation of an eventual promotion to the Major Leagues, Sounds manager Rick Sweet told broadcaster Jeff Hem on the team’s pregame show Tuesday.
Ashby last started Friday and was terrific, tossing seven innings and allowing just two hits and one run (unearned) with one walk and 11 strikeouts. He was named the Triple-A East Player of the Week.
“He's one of our top people and we think he can help the big league club, at least out of the 'pen initially,” Sweet said. “We do see him as a starter, so this is not a [permanent] move to the bullpen. We did this with [Corbin] Burnes. We did it a little bit with [Brandon] Woodruff, too, and Josh Hader. They were all starters with me, and of those guys, both Burnes and Hader went to the bullpen before they went to the big leagues. ... So this is a move for this year. It's a move thinking that [Ashby] will be able to help the Major League team out of the bullpen, but ultimately, he's a Major League starter.
“This will be an easy conversion for Ashby. The first few times, we'll set it up to where we know what day he's going to throw, and after that, he'll become a regular reliever. But he'll pitch more than one inning. He'll be a two-inning, maybe three-inning guy.”
Ashby, 23, is the Brewers' No. 7 prospect per MLB Pipeline.
Last call
• The Brewers announced Tuesday they will host host two additional pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics at Helfaer Field on June 15 and June 16 prior to games against the Reds as part of Major League Baseball’s “Vaccinate At The Plate” initiative. Fans who receive vaccinations will receive two free tickets to that day’s game. For details, see the team’s news release.
• Tuesday marked the start of 16 game days in a row and 33 of 34 leading to the All-Star break for the Brewers. Asked about where the pitching stands going into that marathon, Counsell said, “We always focus on the starters, but there’s a pretty easy way to address the starting pitching thing. It’s the relief pitchers without an off-day that this provides more of a challenge for, and frankly, that’s the group we’re focused on more right now.”