Brewers call up Keston Hiura, Travis Shaw to IL, Cory Spangenberg designated for assignment

His time is nigh! Keston Hiura is coming to the Milwaukee Brewers, according to Robert Murray of The Athletic.

Based on calculation made in previous seasons, the Brewers will not manipulate his service time to bypass Super 2, at least that is if he remains with the big league team for the season. That’s a big deal, because Hiura will be eligible for salary arbitration after the 2021 season as opposed to 2022.

Obviously the Brewers organization feels he is ready. Right now at AAA San Antonio, he is slashing .333//408/.698 with 11 home runs and 24 extra base hits. He was cited by draft experts to be the best bat in the draft when the Brewers selected him ninth overall in 2017. His minor league numbers are backing up that assessment.

It looks as if Hiura will take over the second base role, moving Mike Moustakas to third base. That means Travis Shaw will be headed to the IL or San Antonio. As we all know, Shaw has been struggling with the bat hitting just .163 over the first six-plus weeks of the season.

UPDATE (10:15 a.m.): It appears Shaw is in fact headed to the Injured List to clear a spot on the 25-man roster for Hiura, according to Ken Rosenthal.

UPDATE (10:25 a.m.): According to the San Antonio Missions’ radio announcer, the move to get Hiura on the 40-man is a DFA of Cory Spangenberg:

UPDATE:

The move is official.

Baseball statistics courtesy of Fangraphs