Milwaukee Brewers: Will we see Keston Hiura soon with Travis Shaw’s struggles?

With Travis Shaw’s issues at the plate, does it make sense for the Milwaukee Brewers to call up second baseman, Keston Hiura?

As a whole recently, this Milwaukee Brewers offense has struggled and as a result manufacturing runs have been quite difficult. But amongst those struggles is one player who is yet to get things going this season and that is Travis Shaw.

We saw Jesus Aguilar start the season slowly, but after a multi-home run game, he has been trending in the right direction. The same holds true for Ryan Bruan who got off to a slow start but has posted a 1.172 OPS over the last two weeks.

We keep waiting for Shaw to have that breakthrough moment at the plate that the other two players have had but he continues to look lost when batting. On the season he has a slash line of .167/.262/.288 and has struck out nearly a third of the time and only has four home runs.

The Milwaukee Brewers have shown that they will give him a longer leash to figure things out because they know the player he can be. In 2017 and 2018, Shaw would combine for 63 home runs and 187 RBIs, but that leniency that manager Craig Counsell has shown so far is dwindling as Shaw sat for the entire Chicago Cubs’ series in hopes that would clear his mind.

Given Shaw’s issues at the plate, along with Keston Hiura tearing up Triple-A, could we see Hiura in Milwaukee sooner rather than later if Shaw’s struggles continue?

It is well-known how prolific of a hitter Hiura is and boy is he showing it in San Antonio. In 143 plate appearances, Hiura’s posted a slash line of .333/.406/.706 with a 1.112 OPS, along with 11 home runs and 25 RBIs. His strikeout rate is still a bit high at 27.3 percent but you can’t argue with the overall results.

When firing on all cylinders, the Milwaukee Brewers have a stout lineup but even the best lineups can use a bat like Hiura’s. If called up, Hiura would take over at second base and Mike Moustakas would transition back to his natural position of third base. For the time anyways, Shaw would be relegated to the bench in a pinch-hitter role and playing at first, second or third, whenever he is needed.

If this move did occur and Hiura played well in Milwaukee, Shaw’s demotion would feel similar to that of Eric Thames from 2018. While Shaw would find himself on the bench because of poor play rather than an injury, both players came into their respective seasons expecting to be big contributors but would be usurped by a new player.

While this move does make sense on paper, at this point, I just don’t think it is apart of the Milwaukee Brewers plan for Hiura. For one, Shaw isn’t going to get out of this extended slump by riding the pine, as much as he has struggled, he needs plate appearances to figure it out.

Secondly, I believe that Counsell and GM David Stearns don’t have any intention of using Hiura until he is “the guy”. If Hiura was brought up, the hope would be that Shaw would figure things out at the plate quickly, and if he does, it likely means that Hiura is optioned back down the Triple-A. And while we hope that Hiura doesn’t end up going back and forth over his career, that is one minor league option that the Milwaukee Brewers have now lost with Hiura and we know how much they value that flexibility.

Lastly, up until a month ago, Hiura’s highest level of ball was Double-A, so bringing him up and having him be a rotational player doesn’t do him any good. More time and reps in San Antonio is not a bad thing at all for a young player. If the Milwaukee Brewers do make a move to help out the infield, I am going to guess that we will see Mauricio Dubon or Tyler Saladino before we see Hiura.