Baltimore Orioles to call up Heston Kjerstad from triple-A Norfolk

The Baltimore Orioles are reportedly calling up another one of the team’s top prospects, Heston Kjerstad from Triple-A Norfolk. He is the 29th-ranked prospect overall in MLB.

Baltimore selected Heston Kjerstad with the second overall pick in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft. Prior to that, he played his college baseball for the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Heston Kjerstad is capable of playing both the outfield and first base for Baltimore. That’s going to give the team an amount of versatility with how he’s used. However, it’s safe to say that he will mostly be used in the outfield for Baltimore, as he’s replacing outfielder Austin Hays on the roster. Hays was recently sent to the 10-day injured list after he strained his left calf.

Notably, first baseman and DH Ryan Mountcastle also recently missed time due to knee soreness.

This move comes just two weeks after the Orioles called up top prospect Jackson Holliday. Unfortunately, the top-ranked prospect in MLB has struggled in his first taste of big league play and is hitting just .033 with an OBP of .094. He also has 16 strikeouts in 32 plate appearances.

This is going to be Heston Kjerstad’s second taste of professional baseball. He played in 13 games last season for the Baltimore Orioles, with a .233 average and two home runs, after being called up in September as a member of the 40-man roster. This season in the minor leagues, he’s slashing .349/.431/.744 with a 1.175 OPS.

At Arkansas, Heston Kjerstad was the SEC Freshman of the Year, a two-time Second-Team All-SEC selection, and a Freshman All-American before his final year was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also helped bring the Razorbacks to the 2018 College World Series as a freshman.

Unfortunately for Heston Kjerstad, his development was interrupted by illness. He suffered from a diagnosis of myocarditis, which is a viral inflammation of the heart that kept him from playing until June of 2022 despite being drafted in 2020.

Now, Kjerstad looks excellent for a talented Baltimore team, with MLB.com breaking down how he’s been playing.

“Kjerstad is looking very much like the left-handed power bat the Orioles hoped they were picking up. He has a combination of strength and bat speed and makes a ton of hard contact, showing the ability to drive the ball over the fence and for extra bases to all fields,” MLB.com wrote.

“His overall approach improved in 2023, and while he’s an aggressive swinger, he also managed his strikeouts well (18.4 percent K rate in the Minors), giving hope that he might not be as much power-over-hit as some anticipated.”

Heston Kjerstad is joining the Orioles as they jumped into first place in the AL East for the first time this season, with a record of 15-7. Baltimore is currently in the midst of a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.