Hiura sizzles in professional start
Former UC Irvine All-American Keston Hiura has picked up where he left off in his transition from college to professional baseball.
Hiura, the No. 9 overall pick of the Milwaukee Brewers earlier this month, was seven for 12 through Tuesday in his first three games with the Brewers’ rookie Arizona League affiliate.
Hiura, who received a $4-million signing bonus, hit a three-run home run in his professional debut on Saturday. He was two for five with three runs in that game.
On Sunday, he went two for three with a double and a run and went three for four with two triples and four RBIs and one run on Monday.
The Arizona Brewers were idle on Tuesday.
Hiura, the highest draft pick ever out of UCI, hit an NCAA-best .442 and led the nation with a .567 on-base percentage in 2017.
He was a consensus first-team All-American, earning such recognition from Baseball America, the American Baseball Coaches Assn., DIBaseball.com, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers’ Assn., Perfect Game.Rawlings, and Sports Madness.
Hiura was 14 for 18 in his final four games for UC Irvine, with seven RBIs.
Twitter: @BarryFaulkner5
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