Heston Kjerstad was born in Amarillo, Texas, on February 12, 1999. He played high school baseball at Canyon Randall High School in Amarillo, TX. He was the ninth-ranked outfielder in Texas. Kjersted was the 30th-ranked overall player in Texas. Kjerstad, hit .477 with 32 RBI, as a junior. He was named the District 3-5A MVP, and a first-team All-State player. Kjerstad played summer ball with D-Bat 17u Robertson. He was named to the Connie Mack World Series All-Tournament teams after he hit .524 with five extra-base hits. Kjerstad ranked as the 82nd outfielder in the country. He was the 426th-ranked overall player. He committed to play college baseball at the University of Arkansas.
Heston Kjerstad College
Kjerstad at Arkansas played three seasons where he slashed .343/.421/.590 with a 1.011 OPS. He had 34 doubles and one triple. Kjerstad hit 37 home runs and 129 RBI. He scored 137 runs and had nine stolen bases and 54 walks. In his first season, he slashed .332/.419/.553 with a .972 OPS; he had 16 doubles, 14 home runs, 58 RBI, 65 runs scored, three stolen bases, and 26 walks. In his second season, he slashed .327/.400/.575 with a .975 OPS. He had 13 doubles, one triple, and 17 home runs. Kjerstad accumulated 51 RBI and 53 runs scored. He also had five stolen bases and 21 walks. Kjerstad had his final season cut short due to COVID. In 16 games, he slashed .448/.513/.791 with a 1.304 OPS. He had five doubles, six home runs, 20 RBI, 19 runs scored, one stolen base, and seven walks.
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Heston Kjerstad Draft
Kjerstad was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 36th round in 2017. He chose to attend Arkansas. The Baltimore Orioles drafted him second overall in the 2020 draft.
Heston Kjerstad Orioles Tenure
2021
Kjerstad was ranked by Baseball America as the 62nd prospect entering the season and the 69th prospect by MLB.com. He did not play this season.
2022
This was Kjerstad’s first season playing in the Orioles organization, and he was not ranked in the Top 100. He played for Single-A Delmarva and High-A Aberdeen, combining to play in 65 games where he slashed .309/.394/.457 with a .851 OPS. He had 17 doubles, two triples, and five home runs. Kjerstad achieved 37 RBI and 45 runs scored. He also had one stolen base and 29 walks. Kjerstad played in the Arizona Fall League for Scottsdale. He slashed .357/.385/.622 with a 1.007 OPS. Kjerstad had nine doubles, one triple, five home runs, 17 RBI, 13 runs scored, and five walks. He was named MVP.
2023
Kjerstad ranked as the 80th overall prospect by MLB.com. He played for Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk and made his big-league debut. In the minors, he played in 122 games and slashed .303/.376/.528 with a .904 OPS. He had 29 doubles, eight triples, and 21 home runs. Kjerstad also tallied 55 RBI, 87 runs scored, five stolen bases, and 42 walks. He played in 13 games with the Orioles and slashed .233/.281/.467 with a .748 OPS. Kjerstad had one double, two home runs, three RBI, three runs scored, and two walks. He played in the Future’s game, going 1-2.
2024
Kjerstad ranked 41st by Baseball America and 32nd by MLB Pipeline. He played at High-A Aberdeen, Double-A Bowie, Triple-A Norfolk, and Baltimore. In two games at Aberdeen, he hit .400 with a .900 OPS. He scored one run. At Double-A Bowie he played in four games hitting .308 with a .822 OPS. He had a double, three RBI, and one run scored. Kjerstad in Norfolk played in 56 games hitting .301 with a .998 OPS. He had 14 doubles, one triple, 16 home runs, 58 RBI, and 49 runs scored. In 39 games with the Orioles he hit .253 with a .745 OPS. He had two doubles, four home runs, 14 RBI, and eight runs scored.
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