Heston Kjerstad

Heston Kjerstad

26-Year-Old OutfielderOF
Baltimore Orioles
2025 Fantasy Outlook
Kjerstad is one of a few young Orioles position players that's been caught in between the last two seasons, as he's shown he has nothing left to prove in the minors but is still waiting to get some extended run of playing time at the big-league level. The 26-year-old has put up a .924 OPS with 26 homers over 132 contests at Triple-A Norfolk since the start of the 2023 campaign but has never started more than three games in a row for the Orioles. While Kjerstad has struck out at a 29.3 percent clip during his limited chances in the majors, he's also sported a 46.5 percent hard-hit rate and 9.3 percent barrel rate. With Anthony Santander's expected departure, Kjerstad could become a regular in right field at least against right-handed pitching. The swing and miss might keep his average down, but Kjerstad should crank plenty of homers if he gets an opportunity. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season From Preseason
#339
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Orioles in March of 2024.
Back in action Tuesday
OFBaltimore Orioles
April 22, 2025
Kjerstad (elbow) is starting in left field and batting sixth Tuesday against the Nationals, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.
ANALYSIS
The 26-year-old sustained the elbow bruise Saturday against the Reds and sat out Sunday's contest, but he's good to go following the Orioles' team day off Monday. Kjerstad has enjoyed a hot start to the campaign and has a .261/.300/.500 slash line with three homers, 12 RBI and nine runs in 18 games.
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Batting Stats
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2025
2024
2023
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
6
6
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
1
1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+17%
OPS vs RHP
2025
 
 
+74%
OPS vs RHP
2024
 
 
+11%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
-100%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023vs Left .655 28 2 0 3 0 .296 .321 .333
Since 2023vs Right .765 171 18 9 26 1 .238 .322 .444
2025vs Left .473 11 2 0 1 0 .200 .273 .200
2025vs Right .824 42 7 3 11 0 .256 .286 .538
2024vs Left .813 16 0 0 2 0 .375 .375 .438
2024vs Right .732 98 8 4 12 1 .229 .347 .386
2023vs Left .000 1 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000
2023vs Right .773 31 3 2 3 0 .241 .290 .483
More Splits View More Split Stats
Minor League Splits View Minor League Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2023
 
 
+80%
OPS at Home
2025
 
 
+269%
OPS at Home
2024
 
 
+43%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+37%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2023Home .946 107 12 6 19 1 .309 .393 .553
Since 2023Away .525 92 8 3 10 0 .179 .239 .286
2025Home 1.226 25 6 3 9 0 .348 .400 .826
2025Away .332 28 3 0 3 0 .154 .179 .154
2024Home .846 69 5 2 8 1 .305 .406 .441
2024Away .592 45 3 2 6 0 .175 .267 .325
2023Home .891 13 1 1 2 0 .250 .308 .583
2023Away .652 19 2 1 1 0 .222 .263 .389
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Heston Kjerstad compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.08
 
BB Rate
1.9%
 
K Rate
24.5%
 
BABIP
.265
 
ISO
.224
 
AVG
.245
 
OBP
.283
 
SLG
.469
 
OPS
.752
 
wOBA
.325
 
Exit Velocity
92.7 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
29.7%
 
Barrels/PA
11.3%
 
Expected BA
.292
 
Expected SLG
.604
 
Sprint Speed
24.2 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
29.7%
 
Line Drive %
29.7%
 
Fly Ball %
40.5%
 
Prospect Rankings History
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Heston Kjerstad See More
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AL FAAB Factor: Waiver Pickups of the Week
17 days ago
Playing-time patterns are only beginning to emerge on the American League waiver wire, making Heston Kjerstad stand out as a target as he gets his chance with the Baltimore Orioles.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2024
2023
2021
Kjerstad made a strong first impression in the majors late last season, but unfortunately he's only eligible in the utility spot to start 2024 in most fantasy leagues. A money-saving pick at No. 2 overall in 2020, Kjerstad famously didn't make his pro debut until midway through the 2022 season due primarily to a heart inflammation condition. He won the Arizona Fall League home run derby after the 2022 season and then slashed .303/.376/.528 with 21 home runs in 122 games across Double-A and Triple-A before getting a brief cup of coffee. While he is limited defensively to designated hitter, first base and occasional corner-outfield work, Kjerstad's bat should be good enough to profile at the bottom of the defensive spectrum. He had a 113.5 mph max exit velocity at Triple-A and a 105.1 mph 90th percentile exit velocity and then logged a 19.0 Barrel% and a 52.4% Statcast hard-hit rate in 21 batted-ball events in the majors. He didn't show significant lefty/righty splits last year, but Baltimore has a talented enough roster that the lefty-hitting Kjerstad may still sit against some lefties when he's in the majors. However, Oriole Park at Camden Yards plays much better for lefties than righties, so he should be able to hit for plenty of power, even if he's getting platooned. The stacked 40-man roster clouds Kjerstad's playing time outlook at the outset of 2024.
There's a feel-good element to Kjerstad's 2022 season. He was selected by Baltimore with the No. 2 overall pick in 2020, but a heart condition sidelined him through the 2021 season and he missed the first two months of last season with hamstring strain before finally making his pro debut in June. Kjerstad did what he needed to do as a 23-year-old at Single-A, logging a 228 wRC+ and quickly forcing a promotion to High-A. His 25.3 K% and 71.2 Contact% at High-A are concerning marks, given his age and pedigree. We can forgive his limited power output somewhat given how much Aberdeen suppresses home runs, but the hit tool concerns are real. He made noise in the Arizona Fall League with a .357 average, five home runs, a runner-up finish in the home run derby and the league MVP award, but his 30.0 K% and 4.8 BB% against mediocre AFL pitching is quite worrisome. Kjerstad has legitimate excuses for the fact he will be old for the remaining minor-league levels he will play at, but it's possible, if not probable that he will be overmatched as a 24-year-old at Double-A.
Kjerstad had a 21.7 K% and a 7.0 BB% as a sophomore at Arkansas and a 10:3 K:BB in 43 AB with Team USA in 2019. Those aren't the plate skills of a middling defensive outfielder who would typically go No. 2 overall in the draft, which is where Baltimore selected him last year. He improved his swing decisions (9:7 K:BB) in 16 games as a junior, but the majority of those games came against mediocre competition. In 150 games for Arkansas, he slashed .343/.421/.590 with 37 home runs. He is 6-foot-3, 200 pounds and bats left-handed, profiling as passable in left or right field. It will have to be his all-fields power that carries him to the majors. He seems unlikely to log high OBPs by corner outfield standards, and it would be a win if he develops into a .265 hitter, as there are questions about his ability to hit premium stuff. A non-sports related medical issue prevented him from taking part in fall instructs.
More Fantasy News
Not in lineup Sunday
OFBaltimore Orioles
Elbow
April 20, 2025
Kjerstad (elbow) isn't in the starting lineup for Sunday's game against Cincinnati, Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun reports.
ANALYSIS
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Leaves after getting hit on elbow
OFBaltimore Orioles
Elbow
April 19, 2025
Kjerstad left Saturday's game against the Reds in the third inning after getting hit by a Hunter Greene fastball on the elbow in the first inning, Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun reports.
ANALYSIS
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Smacks another home run
OFBaltimore Orioles
April 18, 2025
Kjerstad went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in Friday's 8-3 loss to the Reds.
ANALYSIS
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Belts two-run homer vs. Cleveland
OFBaltimore Orioles
April 17, 2025
Kjerstad went 1-for-2 with one walk and a two-run homer in Thursday's 6-2 win over the Guardians.
ANALYSIS
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Cracks two-run shot
OFBaltimore Orioles
April 12, 2025
Kjerstad went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer in Saturday's 5-4 win over the Blue Jays.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Promotion coming?
OFBaltimore Orioles
April 22, 2024
The Orioles are expected to promote Kjerstad to the major leagues after Austin Hays was placed on the 10-day injured list with a calf injury, Andy Kostka of TheBaltimoreBanner.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Kjerstad has been tearing it up at Triple-A Norfolk, hitting .349 with 10 homers, 30 RBI, one stolen base and 25 runs over 86 at-bats. The club is hopeful that Hays will be able to return from the injured list following the 10-day minimum, so this could be a brief promotion for the 25-year-old if the team does ultimately decide to bring him up.
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