Hiura has struggled mightily since his impressive rookie campaign with the Brewers, and the 2017 first-round pick is nothing more than organizational fodder at this stage. It would be a bit of a surprise if he was able to make Colorado out of spring training.

Hiura passed through waivers unclaimed after being designated for assignment earlier this week and will likely remain with Los Angeles as extra organizational depth. The 27-year-old former top prospect batted .148 (4-for-27) with zero homers and one RBI in a brief 10-game run with the Angels earlier this month, his first appearance back in the majors since the 2022 season.

Hiura went 1-for-3 on Friday night in his first game back in the majors since the 2022 season and has been bumped up to the second spot on Angels manager Ron Washington’s lineup card on Saturday afternoon to face Cubs soft-tossing righty Kyle Hendricks at Wrigley Field. The 27-year-old former top prospect has languished in the upper minors over the last couple years, but he caught fire recently with Triple-A Salt Lake when he blasted an absurd 12 homers in just 19 games. We’re not sure what to expect here, but the injury-depleted Angels are going to give him a real shot to inject some life into their lineup as a middle-of-the-order masher.

Hiura will come up and tale the roster spot that opened up with Luis Rengifo going on the injured list. A former first round pick of the Brewers, Hiura has spent this season in the minors first with Detroit and now Los Angeles. He hit just .232 with six home runs in 49 games with Triple-A Toledo in the Tigers organization and was subsequently released. More recently, he hit .360 with 12 home runs in 19 games with Triple-A Salt Lake. Maybe the Angels can catch lightning in a bottle with Hiura.