TALENT OVER TRADITION

The ability to better measure hitting attributes has increased teams’ comfort level when valuing players who might not fit traditional positional profiles

- MARK GONZALES

A glut of returning infielders from UC Irvine’s 2014 College World Series team forced then-freshman Keston Hiura to shift to the outfield before playing his first college game.

Hiura, a shortstop at Valencia (Calif.) High, eventually returned to the infield—but only after turning pro. The Brewers drafted him ninth overall in 2017 and developed him as a second baseman, beginning in 2018 after his throwing elbow healed.

But just as Hiura, 24, was preparing to improve his defense at second base last winter, the Brewers seized the opportunity for an upgrade by signing Gold Glove second baseman Kolten Wong.

That meant that Hiura, generously listed at 6 feet, would move to first base for a National League playoff contender despite having never played the position.

“It really doesn’t matter whether it’s the infield or the outfield,” said Hiura, who made 138 major league starts—all at second base or DH—prior to the 2021 season. “I love to find a way to get in the lineup. I think a lot of people realize that.”

And what has become more evident, especially in the last 10 years, is that players are no longer wedded or projected to specific positions based on their body types or the traditional tools-related profile prerequisites.

John Mozeliak, the Cardinals’ president of baseball operations, stressed that scouts still look for physical characteristics, such as size, strength and speed.

“But with what’s happened in the last 10 to 20 years, if you hit, we find you a place to play,” Mozeliak said.

Mozeliak believes the trend gained traction circa 2009 with the Rays’ Ben Zobrist, a sound switch-hitter and natural shortstop who enhanced his value with his defensive versatility that former manager Joe Maddon and Mozeliak likened to a Swiss Army knife.