Owen Miller

Rockies Acquire Owen Miller From Brewers

By Mark Polishuk | November 2, 2024 at 12:38pm CDT

The Rockies acquired utilityman Owen Miller from the Brewers for cash considerations, Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports (X link).

Miller is a veteran of four MLB seasons, playing with Cleveland in 2021-22 and then with Milwaukee for the last two seasons. After playing in 280 games across his first three seasons, he had only 14 games in the Show in 2024, with a .407 OPS to show from 27 plate appearances. The Brewers designated him for assignment and then outrighted Miller off the 40-man roster back in July.

With only a .239/.287/.345 slash line to show for his 1015 career PA in the big leagues, Miller’s defensive versatility has been far more of a calling card than his bat. Miller has made at least one appearance at every position except catcher and center field, though the large bulk of his playing time has come at first and second base.

Miller is now out of minor league options, thus limiting his usefulness to the Brewers and perhaps to the Rockies or other teams going forward as he vies to remain on a Major League roster. There’s no risk for Colorado in acquiring a veteran depth piece who can help at multiple positions, especially if Brendan Rodgers is traded and the Rox have an increased need in the infield.

Brewers Outright Owen Miller

By Darragh McDonald | July 5, 2024 at 8:00pm CDT

Today: The Brewers have sent Miller outright to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, according to his transaction log on MLB.com. He has not previously been outrighted in his career, nor does he have the necessary MLB service time to reject an outright assignment, so he will remain in the organization and report to Nashville.

July 1: The Brewers announced that outfielder Garrett Mitchell has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list, with infielder Tyler Black optioned to get Mitchell onto the active roster, moves which were reported to be impending yesterday. To open a 40-man spot, infielder Owen Miller has been designated for assignment.

Miller, 27, has been a Brewer since December of 2022. That month, he came over from the Guardians in a trade that sent cash or a PTBNL to Cleveland. Last year, he acted as a serviceable depth piece by hitting .261/.303/.371 in 90 games for the Brewers around frequent optional assignments, bouncing around to multiple defensive positions.

This year, he has still been in that role but his numbers have dropped off considerably, as he currently sports a slash line of .185/.185/.222 for the year. To be fair, that has come in just 27 plate appearances while being optioned three times this year. In 195 Triple-A appearances this year, he has hit .259/.344/.382. That’s still subpar, leading to a wRC+ of 90, but far more respectable than the small sample of work at the big league level.

His time on the roster may have been nearing its end regardless, as he is in his final option year and will be out of options next year. That will give him less roster flexibility going forward and the Brewers needed a roster spot today, so he’s been nudged out of his spot a bit ahead of schedule.

They will now have a week to trade Miller or pass him through waivers. Perhaps some club in need of some depth will be interested, as Miller can still be stashed in the minors for the rest of this season. He has spent time at all four infield positions as well as the outfield corners, so he can provide a club with all kinds of defensive versatility. He has hit just .239/.287/.345 in his major league career, which translates to a 76 wRC+, but mostly in part-time roles.

He hit .305/.368/.450 in the minors from 2018 to 2021, before reaching the bigs and entering the up-and-down period he has been in for the past few seasons. That perhaps leaves some hope that his bat is better than it has looked recently. He has between two and three years of major league service and can be retained beyond this season if he has a roster spot somewhere.

Brewers Place Rhys Hoskins On Injured List

By Darragh McDonald | May 14, 2024 at 9:33pm CDT

9:33pm: Hoskins will miss between two and four weeks, manager Pat Murphy tells reporters (including Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel).

5:45pm: The Brewers announced today that first baseman Rhys Hoskins has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a strained right hamstring. Infielder/outfielder Owen Miller was recalled from Triple-A Nashville in a corresponding move.

Hoskins departed yesterday’s game early after tweaking his hamstring. He was set to go for an MRI today and it appears that the strain was discovered and that Hoskins will need to miss some time, though it’s still not publicly known how severe the strain is nor how long the club expects him to be out of action.

Regardless, it’s an unfortunate development for the Brewers. Although Hoskins missed all of 2023 due to a torn ACL, he has bounced right back to his old self this year. He’s hit nine home runs and is drawing walks at an 11.5% rate so far this year. His .233/.340/.474 batting line translates to a 131 wRC+, right in line with his career slash of .242/.353/.491 and 126 wRC+.

Losing that kind of production will obviously hurt the Milwaukee offense. Hoskins and Jake Bauers have been splitting the first base and designated hitter duties, though with Bauers almost never facing lefties. Of his 92 plate appearances this year, only four of them have been against southpaws.

Perhaps the right-handed hitting Gary Sánchez will cover first base a bit more to continue shielding Bauers from lefties. Sánchez had just four innings of first base experience coming into this year but has already logged 12 2/3 innings there in 2024. Miller is also capable of playing some first base but he has reverse splits in his career. Tyler Black was up with the club for a while but has since been optioned and is a lefty hitter anyway.

Bauers is having a nice season, despite a 35.9% strikeout rate. He has four home runs and is hitting .244/.326/.476 for a 127 wRC+. Perhaps the club will be open to giving him more of a chance against lefties but he has a line of .211/.278/.340 against them in his career thus far.

Brewers Promote Tyler Black

By Darragh McDonald | April 30, 2024 at 4:05pm CDT

4:05pm: The Brewers have made it official, announcing they have selected Black’s contract. Miley was transferred to the 60-day injured list to open up a 40-man spot while Miller was optioned to make room on the active roster.

1:35pm: The Brewers are expected to call up infield prospect Tyler Black today, per Jon Morosi of MLB.com. Black is not on the 40-man roster, so a corresponding move will be necessary, though Wade Miley could easily be transferred to the 60-day injured list since he is going to miss the rest of the season due to Tommy John surgery. Another move would still be necessary to get Black onto the active roster.

Black, 23, was selected by the Brewers with the 33rd overall pick in the 2021 draft. Since then, he has climbed the minor league ladder, earning huge amounts of praise for his plate discipline. He spent 2022 in High-A, walking more often than he struck out. He was limited to 283 plate appearances in 64 games due to a fractured scapula but drew 45 walks while getting punched out 44 times, leading to respective rates of 15.9% and 15.5%. He only hit four home runs but his .281/.406/.424 batting line translated to a 137 wRC+.

He got over his injury and returned to the field last year, playing 123 games between Double-A and Triple-A. He walked in 15.8% of his trips to the plate on the year while striking out at a 17.9% rate, hitting 18 home runs in the process. He hit a combined .284/.417/.513 between the two levels for a 145 wRC+. He returned to Triple-A this year and has produced a batting line of .303/.393/.525 so far.

Though the plate discipline is his most standout tool, he also has some speed to offer. He stole 13 bases in his injury-shortened 2022 campaign before swiping 55 bags on 67 tries last year. He’s tallied another three in the early going here in 2024.

Defensively, he’s more of a question mark. He was a second baseman in college and the early parts of his minor league career, spending some time in center field in 2022 as well. But since the start of last year, he’s been exclusively on the infield corners, primarily at third.

Regardless of the defensive question marks, the strong offense and the speed are enough for him to be considered one of the best prospects in the league. Baseball America currently lists him as their #73 prospect. MLB Pipeline has him at #42, ESPN at #51 while Keith Law of The Athletic put him in the #44 spot. Though for a dissenting opinion, Black doesn’t crack the top 100 at FanGraphs and Eric Longenhagen put him at just #10 in the Brewers’ system last month. Longenhagen expresses concern that Black won’t stick at third base and will eventually end up at first, where his contact-over-power approach will be insufficient.

Given the current Milwaukee infield alignment, it would seem that Black probably has a better path to playing time at first base for now. Joey Ortiz has been the regular at third and is hitting a strong .279/.392/.426 so far this year, 134 wRC+. First base has been split between Rhys Hoskins and Jake Bauers, though the latter hasn’t been performing especially well. Bauers is hitting .200/.250/.383 while striking out in 37.5% of his trips to the plate this year.

Both Bauers and Black are left-handed hitters, so it seems Bauers is the player most likely to lose playing time with Black promotion. Bauers is out of options and would have to be designated for assignment if he is to be squeezed off the roster. Though if the Brewers want to keep him around as a bench bat, they could option someone like Joey Wiemer, Oliver Dunn or Owen Miller.

It’s late enough in the season that Black can’t earn a full year of service time, at least not the traditional way. A major league season is 187 days long but a player needs 172 days in the big leagues, or on the major league injured list, to get to the one-year mark. Since we’re over a month into the 2024 campaign already, Black can’t quite make it to that line.

The current collective bargaining agreement contains measures to disincentive service time manipulation, by rewarding clubs for promotion top prospects while also allowing such players a path to getting one year of service even if held down. If a player is on two of the three top 100 lists at BA, MLB Pipeline or ESPN, they are considered eligible for the prospect promotion incentive, which applies to Black since he’s on all three.

Had the Brewers promoted Black earlier in the year, they could have earned themselves an extra draft pick depending on how he performed in awards voting, but that won’t be in play now. Black will be able to earn a full service year if he can finish in the top two in Rookie of the Year voting, the other new measure in the CBA, though he will have an uphill battle in achieving that. Players like Shota Imanaga Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jared Jones, Jackson Merrill, Masyn Winn and others have already had a head start of over a month to rack up stats while Black is just getting started.

Even if he comes up short of the one-year mark here in 2024, he would be in line for Super Two status after the 2026 campaign if he can stay up in the big leagues from this point forward. He would be able to go through arbitration four times instead of three before being slated for free agency after 2030, though future optional assignments could delay either of those trajectories.

Brewers Place Christian Yelich On Injured List Due To Back Strain

By Darragh McDonald | April 16, 2024 at 4:50pm CDT

The Brewers announced that outfielder Christian Yelich has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to April 13, due to a low back strain. Infielder/outfielder Owen Miller was recalled as the corresponding move.

Yelich, 32, last played on Friday with back soreness keeping him out of the lineup in recent days. Since IL stints can be backdated by three days as long as a player doesn’t play, the club waited to see how he responded to a bit of time off. It seems he is still sore enough that he’ll need a bit more time on the shelf, but the backdating means he could potentially be back in a week.

Though the move isn’t surprising and his absence may be brief, it’s nonetheless frustrating for the Brew Crew. Yelich hit a torrid .333/.422/.744 in his first 11 games, launching five home runs in that time. He wasn’t going to be able to maintain that forever but it’s still unfortunate that he was dragged down in the middle of such a heater.

With outfielder Garrett Mitchell also on the injured list, Milwaukee has mostly been using Jackson Chourio, Blake Perkins and Sal Frelick as their regular outfielders in recent days with Joey Wiemer in a fourth outfielder role.

The recall of Miller gives them a versatile bench piece for the time being. Since the start of 2022, he has played all of the non-shortstop infield positions as well as the outfield corners. He’s hit just .241/.289/.349 in that time but has 17 stolen bases in 19 tries and has received solid grades for his glovework.

Brewers Select Josh Donaldson

By Darragh McDonald | September 11, 2023 at 3:35pm CDT

The Brewers announced that they have selected the contract of third baseman Josh Donaldson. In corresponding moves, they have optioned infielder Owen Miller and transferred righty J.C. Mejía to the 60-day injured list.

Donaldson, 37, began the year with the Yankees but was released in August after a season of injuries and disappointing results. He went on the injured list this year due to a right hamstring strain and then a right calf strain, only playing 34 games for the Yanks. In that time, the results were all over the place. He got 15 hits in his 120 plate appearances but 10 of those were home runs. That led to a lopsided .142/.225/.434 batting line and wRC+ of 74.

The Yankees fell out of contention and wanted to give playing time to younger players, so they released Donaldson in August. The Brewers grabbed him on a minor league deal and sent him to get some work at Triple-A, essentially a rehab assignment for his calf strain. He played five games for Nashville and produced similarly odd results in that small sample, hitting two home runs but batting just .091.

The Brewers are hoping to find lightning in a bottle with Donaldson, who has a strong track record from previous seasons and could perhaps get some better fortune going forward. He had a tiny .076 batting average on balls in play with the Yankees earlier this year and a mark of .091 in his five games with the Sounds. Despite the poor results, his Statcast page still has plenty to like, including a 92.8 mph average exit velocity and 51.3% hard hit rate.

Donaldson also struggled last year but was above-average at the plate as recently as 2021, when he hit 26 home runs for the Twins and drew walks in 13.6% of his plate appearances. His .247/.352/.475 line that year amounted to a wRC+ of 126. His defense at third base has also continued to be graded well, even as his offensive results have waned since he joined the Yankees going into 2022. He produced seven Defensive Runs Saved and seven Outs Above Average last year and was average or above in his small sample this year.

Over the past couple of months, Andruw Monasterio has taken the lion’s share of playing time at third for the Brewers. He had some strong results earlier this year but has cooled off significantly, hitting .231/.297/.286 over the past month. Perhaps Donaldson will take some of his playing time as the club hopes that the veteran can get some better batted ball luck and get closer to his previous excellent form.

There will be no financial risk for them to give him this shot, as the Yankees are still on the hook for what remains of his contract. That means Milwaukee can just pay him the prorated version of the $720K league minimum for any time he spends on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Yankees are paying. By joining the organization prior to September 1, Donaldson will be able to play for the Brewers in the postseason.

As for Mejía, he’s been on the injured list since August 14 due to right shoulder inflammation. It’s unclear how long he’s expected to be sidelined by that injury but he’ll now be officially ineligible to return until 60 days from that initial placement on the injured list, which would be mid-October. His regular season is officially over and he likely won’t return to the club unless he gets healthy as they make a deep postseason run. He posted a 5.56 earned run average in nine appearances this year.

Quick Hits: Astros, Santana, Pagan, Muncy, Miller

By Mark Polishuk | May 28, 2023 at 10:34pm CDT

The Astros don’t have an off-day until June 12, so the team had been considering moving to a six-man rotation to help keep their starters fresh during this busy stretch of the schedule. However, manager Dusty Baker told reporters (including the Houston Chronicle’s Danielle Lerner) that the team might be forced to stick with a five-man alignment just due to a lack of available starting depth, since prospect Forrest Whitley has been placed on the Triple-A injured list due to a right lat strain. Whitley was the team’s top option for a spot start or two, and now Ronel Blanco might be the next candidate if Houston does indeed opt for a sixth starter.

Jose Urquidy and Lance McCullers Jr. aren’t expected back until around the All-Star break, while Luis Garcia’s season has already been ended by Tommy John surgery. The injury situation has left the Astros short on starting pitching, and Whitley’s lat strain has again delayed his MLB debut. Once one of the sport’s top prospects, Whitley’s minor league career has been interrupted by a 50-game PED suspension in 2018, and by a Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2021 season.

More on other injury situations that arose from today’s games…

Carlos Santana left during the sixth inning of the Pirates’ 6-3 loss to the Mariners today due to what the Bucs described as lumbar spine muscular tightness. It would certainly seem like Santana will miss a couple of games to recovery, and a trip to the injured list is possible if his back problem doesn’t subside. Connor Joe is the likeliest candidate for first base duty in Santana’s absence, but Pittsburgh might now be facing a depth problem at first base since Ji-Man Choi isn’t eligible to return from the 60-day IL until at least mid-July.
Twins reliever Emilio Pagan faced only one batter in today’s 3-0 loss to the Blue Jays before departing due to a left hip flexor strain. Both Pagan and manager Rocco Baldelli expressed hope that an IL stint wasn’t necessary, with Pagan telling the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Jerry Zgoda and other reporters that “hopefully we caught it early enough, that I’m good to go in a day or two. I think I’ll be ready to go tomorrow if need be.”
Max Muncy left today’s game with a cramp in his left hamstring, and the Dodgers infielder told MLB.com and other media that he has been dealing with cramps throughout the weekend. Muncy will undergo an MRI to further examine the issue, but for now, he is day to day. Between a scorching-hot April and then a big slump for much of May, Muncy is still hitting .208/.340/.530 over 203 plate appearances this season, and he belted his 17th home run before his early exit today.
X-rays were negative on Owen Miller’s right forearm, after the Brewers infielder was removed as a precautionary measure after being hit by a pitch in today’s game. Manager Craig Counsell told Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other reporters that Miller is day to day, and could be back for the team’s next game on Tuesday (Monday is an off-day for the Brew Crew). Miller’s hot bat has earned him more playing time, and after collecting two more hits today, Miller is slashing .330/.371/.513 over 124 PA.

Brewers Notes: Hiura, Varland, Miller, Wiemer

By Steve Adams | March 27, 2023 at 8:02pm CDT

Brewers general manager Matt Arnold attempted to trade infielder Keston Hiura prior to this morning’s DFA, he told reporters in the wake of the move (Twitter link via Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel). Clearly, no deal came together. It’s still possible that the Brewers could find a trade partner in the coming days, but a DFA on the heels of an apparently tepid trade market also creates the possibility that Milwaukee will attempt to pass Hiura through waivers.

There’s no guarantee Hiura would be claimed, given his $2.2MM salary, prolific strikeout rates and limited defensive abilities. While he turned in a .226/.316/.449 batting line (115 wRC+) with 14 home runs in 266 plate appearances last year, Hiura also punched out at staggering 41.7% clip. He needed a .355 batting average on balls in play and a massive 29.8% homer-to-flyball rate just to get to a .226 average overall. It’s hard to imagine him sustaining either.

Hiura’s strikeout rate has worsened each year since his sensational rookie debut back in 2019, when he hit .303/.368/.570. Since that time, he’s a .205/.293/.394 with a 38.5% strikeout rate and negative ratings for his glovework at second base. He’s been about average in 603 innings at first base, per both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average. That Hiura is out of minor league options also contributed to both his DFA and the ostensible difficulty in finding a trade partner.

The DFA of Hiura and subsequent signing of Luke Voit were just a couple of many steps the Brewers took toward solidifying the roster today. The team also informed Rule 5 pick Gus Varland today that he’s made the Opening Day roster. (Fans of any team will want to check out the video of Arnold and skipper Craig Counsell informing Varland of the news.) Counsell also announced that Owen Miller made the roster while top outfield prospect Joey Wiemer has been reassigned to minor league camp (Twitter link via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com).

Varland pitched to a 4.15 ERA in eight spring appearances but also showed the potential to overpower opponents. Though he was tagged for three home runs, he also fanned 17 of his 35 opponents (48.6%) against just one walk in 8 2/3 innings. He’s had a brutal two seasons with the Dodgers’ Double-A affiliate in 2021-22 (combined 5.98 ERA), but the Brewers were intrigued by his raw stuff over his results, and at least thus far, that interest looks well founded.

That Varland landed with the Brewers of all teams is surely extra sweet to the right-hander, who’s from nearby Minnesota and noted during an emotional interaction with Arnold and Counsell that he has family in Milwaukee. He and his brother Louie Varland, who pitches for the pair’s hometown Twins, played their college ball at Division-II Concordia in St. Paul but can now both call themselves big leaguers.

Today marks even more of a homecoming for Miller, a Wisconsin native whom the team picked up in a trade that sent a player to be named later to the Guardians back in December. Miller hit just .243/.301/.351 in 472 plate appearances with Cleveland last year, fading after a hot April, but he slashed .385/.429/.487 this spring. He’s played all four infield positions in his brief MLB career — primarily first base and second base — but the Brewers gave him a look in center field this spring and could use him on the grass in 2023. Miller does have minor league options remaining, so he can be freely sent to Triple-A Nashville if he has a rocky stretch this season.

Some Brewer fans will be disheartened to see Wiemer, 23, sent to minor league camp — particularly after last year’s .287/.368/.520 showing in Triple-A. The 2020 fourth-rounder looks like one of the steals of his draft class after a big 2022 season and currently sits on the top 100 prospect rankings at Baseball Prospectus (65), MLB.com (90), FanGraphs (91) and The Athletic (91). He hit .262/.319/.429 with a pair of homers and a double in 47 plate appearances this spring.

As Counsell explained, the decision on Wiemer simply boiled down to playing time. The roster spot that was up for grabs was a part-time role off the bench, and the organization wants Wiemer and fellow top outfield prospect Sal Frelick to receive regular playing time down in Nashville. Given the prospect status of both Wiemer and Frelick, a strong start could force the team’s hand early on, but for now it looks like it’ll be Christian Yelich in left field, Garrett Mitchell in center and likely Brian Anderson in right field. Tyrone Taylor’s eventual return will be a factor at some point, but he’s expected to miss at least the first month of the season.

NL Central Notes: Reds, Weaver, Cessa, Suzuki, Wesneski, Miller

By Mark Polishuk | March 19, 2023 at 10:03pm CDT

Luke Weaver hasn’t pitched since Monday due to a sore forearm, and “I think we’d have to push pretty hard to get him ready for Opening Day,” Reds manager David Bell told the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Bobby Nightengale and other reporters. Despite the ominous nature of forearm-related injuries, Weaver’s issue seems to be just soreness, and he might throw a bullpen session in a few days’ time. However, that still doesn’t leave the right-hander with much time to fully build his arm strength in advance of the Reds’ first game on March 30.

Weaver was projected to be Cincinnati’s fourth starter, creating another wrinkle in what was already a battle for the fifth starter’s job. Connor Overton, Luis Cessa, Brandon Williamson, and non-roster invitee Chase Anderson were all in the running for the final rotation job, and two of those pitchers might now earn jobs if Weaver indeed needs to miss any regular-season time. Cessa is also a bit of a question mark for workload-related reasons, as he might need to build up his arm since he hasn’t pitched much as a member of Mexico’s World Baseball Classic team. Even if Cessa doesn’t make the rotation, Bell said the right-hander will still be a member of the Reds’ bullpen.

The Brewers’ Keston Hiura Dilemma

By Steve Adams | March 15, 2023 at 9:17pm CDT

Not long ago, the future looked bright for Keston Hiura and the Brewers. The former No. 9 overall draft pick (2017) had been a universally lauded top-25 prospect in the sport due to a high-probability hit tool that overshadowed concerns about his glovework. He breezed through the minors, torching opponents in Rookie ball, Class-A, High-A, Double-A and Triple-A before reaching the Majors in 2019 and erupting with a .303/.368/.570 batting line and 19 home runs in just 348 plate appearances at 22 years of age.

Hiura’s long-term position was something of an open question due to an elbow injury that required surgery in college and left questions about his arm strength even at second base. However, his bat was so advanced and his professional track record was so strong that it didn’t seem to matter much. That rookie production and his minor league track record suggested a player whose offensive profile would fit at any position on the diamond.

Granted, Hiura’s 30.7% strikeout rate as a rookie was a red flag, but strikeouts weren’t an issue at all until he reached Triple-A and the big leagues. There was reason to believe that with more experience, he could pare back on the swing-and-miss in his game. Further, given the 91.4 mph average exit velocity and 48.1% hard-hit rate he boasted that season, the impact when he did make contact was substantial. Even with a .402 BABIP pointing to some regression in the batting average department, Hiura looked the part of a slugger who could turn in an average or better batting average with plenty of power.

That now feels like a distant memory. In the three seasons since that time, Hiura hasn’t improved upon his strikeouts but rather seen the problem worsen. He fanned at a 34.6% clip in his sophomore season while posting a disappointing .212/.297/.410 line. Optimists could perhaps chalk that up to a relatively small sample (59 games) and the strangeness of the Covid-shortened 2020 season, but Hiura hit just .168/.256/.301 with an even worse 39.1% strikeout rate in 2021. His bottom-line results were better in 2022 — .226/.316/.449, 14 homers in 266 plate appearances — but Hiura punched out at a career-worst 41.7% rate last year.

Along the way, defensive metrics have regularly panned his abilities in the field. Defensive Runs Saved (-16), Ultimate Zone Rating (-14.1) and Outs Above Average (-12) all offer resoundingly negative reviews of his 1204 career innings at second base. Those metrics grade him as an average defender in 603 innings at first base. He’s also logged 40 innings in left field, but those days are likely behind him, given the number of interesting outfield prospects on the horizon in Milwaukee. Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick and Joey Wiemer could all join Christian Yelich and the currently injured Tyrone Taylor in the 2023 outfield (as could third baseman/outfielder Brian Anderson). Uber-prospect Jackson Chourio is also rapidly approaching the Majors.

With Hiura’s struggles at second base and both Brice Turang and Luis Urias presenting options at the position, he’s unlikely to spend much more time there. A move to third base seems out of the question, given concerns about his arm strength. Both Urias and Anderson are more seasoned options at the hot corner anyhow. At first base, Hiura’s right-handed bat would seem like a natural pairing with lefty-swinging Rowdy Tellez … except for the fact that Hiura has pronounced reverse splits in his big league career. He’s batted .253/.332/.508 against righties but just .201/.283/.323 against lefties. Even that stout production against righties comes with a 34.5% punchout rate and .342 BABIP, suggesting regression could be in order.

As things stand, Hiura looks like a right-handed bench bat who’ll primarily work at first base and designated hitter, perhaps with very occasional appearances at second base and in left field. It’s a limited role to begin with, and it’s one that’s further complicated by a dismal showing this spring. Obviously, spring results don’t carry much weight, but hitting .174/.269/.217 with nine strikeouts in 26 plate appearances (34.6%) on the heels of a difficult three-year stretch in the big leagues doesn’t inspire much confidence in a rebound.

Furthermore, the Brewers have multiple right-handed first base options in camp who are simply outproducing Hiura this spring. Again, we’re dealing with the smallest of samples, so it’s all to be taken with a grain of salt, but each of Mike Brosseau, Owen Miller and non-roster invitee Luke Voit have posted better numbers thus far.

Brosseau hit .255/.344/.418 last season — comparable overall production to that of Hiura. He’s having a monster spring showing and can play first base, second base, third base and the outfield corners. Unlike Hiura, he’s a right-handed bat who has more traditional platoon splits: .276/.338/.485 versus lefties (127 wRC+), .207/.295/.356 versus righties (84 wRC+).

Miller, acquired from Cleveland over the winter, had a big start with the Guardians in 2022 before wilting and finishing out the year with a .243/.301/.351 showing. Hiura’s 115 wRC+ from last season handily tops Miller’s mark of 85, but Miller’s 19.8% strikeout rate is less than half that of Hiura’s 41.7%. Miller is more capable at second base and has even been working out in center field this spring.

Voit was also outproduced by Hiura at the big league level last year, but his 31.5% punchout rate — while still unsightly — still clocked in 10 percentage points lower. Voit has the bigger track record of MLB success, having led the Majors with a 22-homer showing back in 2020. Injuries have sapped his production since 2021.

Perhaps the biggest thing working in Hiura’s favor is that he’s out of minor league options. The Brewers can’t send him down without first exposing him to waivers. It’s possible that the $2.2MM salary to which he agreed when avoiding arbitration over the winter might allow him to pass through waivers unclaimed, but Milwaukee may not want to risk waiving a former top-10 pick and top-25 prospect only to watch him break out elsewhere. Brosseau and Miller both have a pair of minor league options remaining. Voit isn’t on the 40-man roster after signing a minor league deal, although he’ll reportedly have the chance to opt out of his deal tomorrow if he’s not added to the roster.

To Hiura’s credit, he’s a career .299/.400/.600 hitter in 508 Triple-A plate appearances. Even last year while striking out a nearly 42% clip, he averaged a whopping 91.7 mph off the bat and put 45.2% of the balls he hit into play at 95 mph or better. The quality of his contact is elite. The frequency of contact is among the worst in MLB. Hiura’s strikeout rate was the worst of the 317 batters who had at least 250 plate appearances. His 62.3% overall contact rate and 71.2% contact rate on pitches within the strike zone both ranked third-worst among that same group.

It all presents the Brewers with a quandary. They have at least three right-handed-hitting alternatives in camp who are capable of filling that first base/designated hitter spot. Brosseau has more defensive versatility, comparable recent production and is a more natural complement to lefties like Tellez and DH candidate Jesse Winker. Voit has similar power upside, although he’s limited to first base/DH and is two years removed from being a legitimate middle-of-the-order threat. Miller doesn’t have the same offensive upside but might have the most defensive versatility and definitely has the best bat-to-ball skills of this bunch.

Milwaukee has several alternatives to Hiura, whose trade value is minimal at this juncture in his career. There’s understandable risk in parting ways with him and allowing for the possibility of another club claiming him on waivers. But, at the same time, hanging onto him leaves the Brewers with limited roster flexibility while simply hoping for him to finally hone his approach at the plate after years of being unable to do so. And since he can’t be optioned to Triple-A, he’ll likely be left to do so in sparse playing opportunities since he currently projects as a bench piece in the event that he does crack the Opening Day roster.

It’s a tough spot for the Brewers to find themselves, and there’s likely no solution that’ll make them feel truly comfortable. Opening Day is just over two weeks away, however, so one way or another this will culminate in the team making a difficult choice.

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