Heston Kjerstad hit a 12th-inning grand slam to give the Baltimore Orioles’ Triple A affiliate Norfolk Tides the 5-3 win over the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. Kjerstad hit the walk-off grand after htting another home run earlier in the week. He returned to Norfolk this week after spending three weeks with the Orioles.
Kjerstad is one of the Orioles’ top prospects after being drafted by the team No. 2 overall in 2020. He made his MLB debut last year and recorded a .233 batting average with seven hits and two home runs in 13 games. This year, Kjerstad has played in seven games and tallied two hits in 14 at-bats.
While playing at Norfolk this year, Kjerstad has hit 12 home runs in 27 games. “Just staying locked in to my approach and selling out to it every at-bat, and just being myself every time I step into the box,” Kjerstad told MLB Tonight’s Adnan Virk, Sean Casey and Ryan Dempster in April, per MLB.com. “For me right now, I’m just trying to hunt the ball a little bit up in the zone cause that’s — most guys are using a lot of off-speed down in the zone to get me out or get me to chase. And for me, my focal point has been swinging at those pitches when I get them in zone and put them in play hard. Really managing the strike zone.”
Heston Kjerstad loves playing for the Orioles
Kjerstad, who was an All-American player for the Arkansas Razorbacks, also talked about playing with other young talent like Jackson Holiday. “The Orioles have done a great job just stacking up young talent and helping develop it as well. You know, it’s deep down here in the farm system,” the 25-year-old said. “Just a lot of good players, it’s nice to be around those guys. We’re able to pick each other’s brain and talk baseball and also just go out there and compete. You know, you get a lot of us in one lineup and it could be some damage, for sure.
“We definitely push each other. Everybody definitely want to be the best player on the team, but I feel like we do a really good job of, once we get between the lines we’re on one team together and we’re working together to beat the team we’re playing against. Or trying to help each other reach a new level. Everyone wants the edge but, you know, we’re all really good so it kinda just flips week to week on who is running the offense.”
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