Heston Kjerstad is officially ready to move on.
It’s not that the Norfolk Tides outfielder is overly impatient to finally reach the major leagues; it’s that, at 24 and fairly well into a professional career delayed for two years by widely known and unusual circumstances, he’s focused on tackling the now.
For Kjerstad, the third-ranked prospect in the Baltimore Orioles’ organization according to MLB.com, the past includes a 2020 minor league season — which would’ve been his first — canceled altogether. It includes a 2021 season lost when he suffered from myocarditis, a rare condition that “can weaken the heart and its electrical system” and reduce the heart’s ability to pump blood, according to the American Heart Association.
That condition was followed by a hamstring injury that delayed the start of his professional career until June 10, 2022, two years to the day after the Orioles drafted Kjerstad second overall out of the University of Arkansas.
Since then, he’s flown through the organization, hitting like a madman at nearly every level.
Kjerstad entered Sunday’s series finale against Durham with a .308 career batting average, including a .305 clip with eight home runs and 26 RBIs through 62 games with Norfolk this season.
“Obviously, (with) what he went through, yeah, he’s moved fast,” Tides manager Buck Britton said. “It’s been impressive he’s been able to do what he’s done with that much lost time. He’s an exciting player.”
But asked this week about the specifics of what he went through with myocarditis, Kjerstad respectfully declined to elaborate, agreeing only to discuss whether it affects him today. The condition, he said, has lived on only in interviews throughout his brief career.
“It’s all good,” Kjerstad said. “Luckily, got all that behind me.”
Kjerstad’s present involves continuing to learn to play first base — no small task for someone who had only done it in fall ball at Arkansas before this season.
Condensed footwork, holding runners on and being in position for cutoff throws were all mostly foreign to a player accustomed to running down fly balls and heaving the ball with purpose toward the infield.
No one on the field has had a closer look at Kjerstad’s first-base work than second baseman Connor Norby, who has dabbled at left field, right field and shortstop this season. It’s part of an organizational trend that has few players manning just one position over the course of a season, in the interest of lineup versatility.
Kjerstad’s ongoing transition, Norby said, is especially impressive.
“He’s getting better,” Norby, a former East Carolina star, said. “I enjoy having him over there.
“It’s hard to move from the outfield to the infield. That’s probably the hardest thing for anyone to do in this game. And he’s kind of taken it and run with it. He works really hard at it, and he’s improving every single day. I think the game helps him the most, just because it’s hard to replicate those reps. But he’s handling it well.”
Still a relatively inexperienced pro, Kjerstad (pronounced KERR-stad) is learning to deal with other things, too. He recently endured an 0-for-15 slump that cost him 23 points off his batting average. He followed that by hitting safely in his next six games.
Despite what Britton called his “tremendous” bat-to-ball skill, Kjerstad is showing continued development at the plate by putting the tough times behind him.
“It’s the game of baseball,” Kjerstad said. “You’d love to get a hit every AB, but that’s not the case. And sometimes you hit a stretch that’s not the most enjoyable and kind of frustrating. But at the end of the day, it’s a learning moment every time you’re struggling like that. There’s something there that you can learn from that’s going to help you reach the goals you want to reach or become the player you want to become.”
With established major leaguers Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O’Hearn handling the bulk of the first-base reps for Baltimore, Britton doubts that Kjerstad is likely to play the position in the major leagues this season.
But that doesn’t mean that, despite not being on the first-place Orioles’ 40-man roster, he won’t get a taste.
“He has entered the conversation about the major league roster in a legitimate way and is certainly a candidate for any part of the stretch run here coming up, should we decide he’s the guy,” Baltimore GM Mike Elias told reporters this week.
Britton, a former minor league utiltyman who played for the Tides as recently as 2014, personally worked with Kjerstad to teach him the ins and outs of infield play.
The jobs can almost be night and day.
“That’s the biggest thing for outfielders coming to the infield, is the footwork,” Britton said. “In the outfield, there’s a bunch of long strides to get you to the ball. On the infield, man, we work in tight spots. He’s taken to it well. I think it’s something that we’re going to have to continue to pound, even if he gets a shot up there.”
Until then, Kjerstad will continue to work on pitch selection and using the whole field. And he’ll likely continue to display what Norby described as a playful personality.
“He’s a character,” Norby said. “He’s like a grown child at times. But he’s a blast to have in the clubhouse. He’ll talk smack with you, but he likes when you talk smack back. And that’s who he is. He kind of thrives off that.”
When Kjerstad first arrived in Norfolk from Double-A Bowie in June, just shy of a year after his pro debut, he was asked to pronounce his name for assembled reporters.
He slowly stated it before adding, “The J’s silent. I don’t know why it’s there. It’s just chilling.”
Kjerstad’s personality, Norby said, is part of what makes him a good player.
“No moment’s ever too big for him,” Norby said. “He handles himself really well. I don’t ever see him getting frustrated. No matter how good or bad things might be going, you don’t ever see him get frustrated. He keeps it loose all the time.”
Kjerstad, who said recently that he hopes to spend his entire career with the Orioles, was asked that June day about his delayed career.
He didn’t get specific then, either, but his appreciation was apparent.
“It’s definitely not the way you draw your path up after getting drafted, but that’s part of life, part of being an athlete,” Kjerstad said. “I had a few setbacks. But now I’m back here healthy and out here playing every day. That’s about all I can ask for. I’m just excited for what’s to come.”
David Hall, [email protected]. Twitter @DavidHallVP
