PITTSBURGH – Two years ago, on draft day for major league baseball, Keston Hiura didn’t have a lot of time to sit around and get nervous.

“I was still in Irvine,” said Hiura, who played college ball for Cal-Irvine. “We actually had finals that week. I took a final that morning. I don’t remember (the subject). I think I’m glad I don’t remember.

“I had a final on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. So, I really couldn’t go out and celebrate after I got drafted.”

Hiura did gather family, friends, teammates and staff later that day at a picnic pavilion at the team’s ballpark to await news of his draft fate. The Brewers called his name with the No. 9 pick in the first round, and here he is, already playing in the major leagues and making an impact.

“I feel old now, and I’m only 22,” Hiura joked. “Two years ago, life completely changed. It’s one of the happiest moments of my life. To look back at the two years and how far I’ve come, it seems like forever ago. It’s happened all so quickly.

“I don’t think anyone really has a timetable for getting to the big leagues. Obviously, the sooner, the better. It’s just going out there and doing the best you can, at each level, giving your best effort. Ultimately, it’s up to management to decide where you play.”

The Brewers will make another first-round pick Monday evening when the 2019 MLB draft begins. This time, after posting the best record in the National League last season, they are picking much lower in the first round at No. 28.

In fact, the Brewers will have only two of the first 132 picks as the draft goes through the first two rounds on the opening day, with Rounds 3-10 on Tuesday and 11-40 on Wednesday. The Brewers traded their Competitive Balance Round A selection (No. 41 overall) to Texas in December for reliever Alex Claudio, and surrendered their third-round pick in January when signing free-agent catcher Yasmani Grandal, who had received a qualifying offer from the Dodgers.

So, on the first day of the draft, the Brewers will have two selections – No. 28 in the first round and No. 65 in the second round. What awaits the first-round selection?

“It’s life changing,” said Hiura, who received a $4 million signing bonus. “It doesn’t really hit you until you’re saying goodbye to all of your teammates, family and friends. Then, you get out to Arizona and check in, do some physical stuff. It’s nerve-wracking at first, then you settle in and get used to it.

“Coming off the college season, you’re playing another half-season (professionally), so you’re basically playing a full season in that sense. It was a lot of fun, looking back at it.”

Hader still relying on fastball

Is Josh Hader throwing too many fastballs?

Considering he had converted all 13 of his save opportunities prior to Saturday, that seems like a bit of nit-picking to even ask. But Hader also surrendered his sixth homer of the season in the eighth inning, a three-run shot by Starling Marte that put the Pirates in position to win until Hiura’s two-run homer in the ninth off Felipe Vázquez sent the game into extra innings, with the Brewers winning in the 13th on Orlando Arcia’s second two-run homer of the night.

Marte’s blast came on a 1-0 fastball from Hader, up and off the outside corner a bit. Hader is throwing his fastball at a much higher rate in 2019, allowing hitters to not worry much about his slider.

Hader has thrown fastballs 90.1% of the time, according to FanGraphs, up from 79% during his all-star 2018 season. That has dropped slider usage to 9.5%, down from 20.7% last year. In some appearances, Hader doesn’t use it at all.

Ignoring those numbers, Hader said, “I don’t think anything has changed since I came up to the big leagues. I’ve always counted on my strength, which is my fastball. I’ve got to execute my pitch, no matter what, even if they know what’s coming. Sometimes, you execute a pitch and it gets hit.

“For me, it’s about attacking the zone and getting ahead (in the count) early.”

The home runs aside, Hader has fared quite well for the most part, posting a 2.45 ERA over 22 outings with the 13 saves and 57 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings. Opponents are batting a mere .130 against him.

“That’s just how it goes sometimes,” Hader said. “These are major-league hitters. There are times you execute your pitch, and they still get a hit. And there are times when you don’t execute a pitch and it may still work in your favor. That’s the way baseball is.”