Another former Diamond Hog is one step closer to reaching the big leagues.
Arkansas legend and No. 2 overall pick by Baltimore in the 2020 MLB Draft, Heston Kjerstad, was promoted from the Delmarva Shorebirds (Single-A) to the Aberdeen IronBirds (High-A) on Monday. He will begin playing with Aberdeen today.
After missing all of 2020 and 2021 with myocarditis — inflammation of the heart — and missing the first part of 2022 with a hamstring injury, Kjerstad was finally able to start his professional career on June 10.
Since he started his career, Kjerstad has 37 hits in 80 at bats and has a .463/.551/.650 slash line. He also has nine doubles, two homers and 17 RBI to go with 13 walks and 17 strikeouts.
Kjerstad recorded a hit in 20 of his 22 games with Delmarva and he had multiple hits in 13 of those games.
According to MLB.com, Kjerstad is the No. 8 prospect in the Orioles organization. All seven players above him are at the Triple-A or Double-A level.
Kjerstad could work his way up to Double-A and possibly Triple-A by the end of the season to set himself up at one of those levels to begin play next year.
His IronBirds debut is set for 6:05 CT against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws today.
