What Ethnicity Is Keston Hiura?

What Ethnicity Is Keston Hiura?

Keston Hiura’s ethnicity is Asian. He was born to a Chinese mom and a Japanese dad.



Keston Hiura’s once-promising big-league future is fading, and he was sent to the minors for the second time in 2021 today.

Keston Hiura
Keston Hiura

Hiura had an immediate impact in 2019, hitting .303/.368/.570 with 19 home runs and nine steals in 84 games, instantly establishing himself as one of the team’s top offensive players and a player who appeared to be a franchise cornerstone for years to come.



However, his 138 OPS+ masks a 30.8 percent strikeout rate, and as the whiffs rose and his .402 BABIP dropped during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, his batting line plummeted.

Hiura still led the team with 13 home runs in 59 games last season, but he also led the National League with 85 punchouts and a .212/.297/.410 line for an OPS+ of 87, which was significantly below average.

Hiura was given the responsibility of rebounding back at the plate and learning the new position of first base in 2021, and he has failed miserably at both.

He has three errors on his record and a Defensive Runs grade of -1. So far, he’s been saved at the chilly corner, but his difficulties at the plate have only gotten worse.

Hiura is habitually rocking through hittable pitches in the middle of the strike zone;

his zone contact rate of 59.1 percent is the lowest in MLB by 8 percentage points, and his 24.1 percent swinging-strike rate is the league’s worst by nearly four percentage points among players with 100 plate appearances this season.

When he does make contact, it’s rarely with much authority his .093 ISO and 38.7% hard contact percentage (per Statcast) are also career lows.

Keston spent a couple of weeks in the minors in May, slashing .438/526/.906 with three homers in 38 plate appearances, earning him a player of the week honor.