Brewers’ prospect Hiura off to hot start in Triple-A

The Milwaukee Brewers have positioned themselves as a World Series contender, but the team still has a number of promising prospects.

Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports Wisconsin will take a closer look at some specific young players in Milwaukee’s farm system — as well as noting others who might be stepping up — measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress.

This is the inaugural edition of the 2019 Young Brewers Tracker.

Zack Brown, SP (age 24/Triple-A)

Season: 6 games (6 starts), 1-3, 4.18 ERA, 32.1 IP, 36 H, 3 HR, 15 BB, 27 K, .295 OBA, 1.58 WHIP.

Notable: The Brewers’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2018 had had two starts in which he’s allowed just one run (going six innings in his Triple-A debut and five innings on April 26), but in three of his last four starts he’s given up 13 runs, 10 earned, in 15 1/3 innings.

Mauricio Dubon, 2B/SS (Age 24/Triple-A)

Season: 26 games, 96 AB, .271 BA, .314 OBP, .396 SLG, .710 OPS, 6 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 10 R, 9 RBI, 4 SB, 5 BB, 18 K.

Notable: Dubon’s bid to become the first native Honduran MLB player is back on track. He missed most of the 2018 season after tearing his ACL and was sidelined much of spring training with an illness. Dubon has mainly played shortstop at San Antonio (22 games) but he’s also started twice at second base.

Keston Hiura, 2B (Age 22/Triple-A)

Season: 26 games, 93 AB, .312 BA, .350 OBP, .688 SLG, 1.038 OPS, 9 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 15 R, 18 RBI, 1 SB, 5 BB, 32 K.

Notable: Coming off a strong Arizona Fall League, Hiura has hit the ground running in his first foray in Triple-A. He’s eighth in the Pacific Coast League in slugging percentage (and remember, Milwaukee’s Triple-A affiliate is no longer in hitter-friendly Colorado Springs) and leads the Missions in doubles, home runs and RBI and is tied for first in runs.

Tristan Lutz, OF (age 20/Single-A)

Season: 21 games, 77 AB, .182 BA, .250 OBP, .299 SLG, .549 OPS, 3 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 9 R, 6 RBI, 0 SB, 6 BB, 30 K.

Notable: A 2017 competitive balance first-round pick, Lutz is scuffling in his first look at High-A ball, but he does have a hit in five of his last six games, including a pair of two-hit games.

Corey Ray, OF (age 24/Triple-A)

Season: 13 games, 57 AB, .184 BA, .298 OBP, .184 SLG, .482 OPS, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 4 R, 1 RBI, 2 SB, 7 BB, 25 K.

Notable: After winning the Southern League MVP and being named the Brewers’ minor league player of the year in 2018, Ray had a tough start to 2019. He was placed on the injured list April 17 after hurting a finger, but he had yet to record an extra-base hit in his first go-around at the Triple-A level.

Trey Supak, SP (age 22/Double-A)

Season: 5 games (5 starts), 2-1, 2.60 ERA, 27.2 IP, 21 H, 1 HR, 6 BB, 16 K, .212 OBA, 0.98 WHIP.

Notable: The last one standing from the Jason Rogers trade (which also needed Keon Broxton), Supak split time between Single-A and Double-A in 2018. He’s had three starts this year in which he’s allowed no runs (going six, six and seven innings), but in his last outing on April 26 gave up four runs on 10 hits in four innings.

Brice Turang, SS (age 19/Single-A)

Season: 24 games, 84 AB, .310 BA, .423 OBP, .405 SLG, .828 OPS, 6 2B, 1 3B, 0 HR, 18 R, 9 RBI, 6 SB, 17 BB, 18 K.

Notable: Last year’s first-round pick is playing at Low-A Wisconsin and is tied for fifth in the Midwest League in runs and walks. He also tops the Timber Rattlers in those categories, of course, as well as OPS.

Other notes: San Antonio 3B Lucas Erceg (2nd round 2016), hit just .248/.306/.382 in 2018 in Double-A, but is off to a .268/.369/.535 start in his first 25 games at Triple-A. … Missions OF Tyrone Taylor (2nd round, 2012), who impressed in spring training, is slugging .500. … San Antonio OF Troy Stokes Jr. (4th round, 2014) has played in just six games. He went on the injured list April 7 with late tightness, returned April 18 and was back on the IL 10 days later. … After two starts at Biloxi where he allowed three runs in 12 innings, RHP Thomas Jankins (13th round, 2016) was moved up to Triple-A, where he’s given  up four runs in 10 innings. … Biloxi 1B Weston Wilson (17th round, 2016) is off to a .293/.371/.576 start with six home runs in 25 games. … OF Joantgel Segovia hit just .232 in 62 games after being promoted to Carolina last year, is hitting .309/.402/.464 for the Mudcats. … Carolina C Peyton Henry (6th round, 2016) is slugging .465 with five home runs. He hit 10 HR in 98 games for Wisconsin in 2018. … Wisconsin RHP Max Lazar (11th round, 2017) had allowed three earned runs in 19 1/3 innings and has struck out 28.

Statistics courtesy milb.com and baseball-reference.com

Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth’s Shadow (a Larry Ritter Book Award nominee), Facing Ted Williams – Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns