Former Baltimore Orioles Top Prospect Negatively Impacted Ability to Win

There hasn’t been a lot that has gone right for the Baltimore Orioles during the 2025 MLB regular season.

A team that had legitimate hopes of contending this year currently finds itself in the cellar of the American League East with a record of 31-41 entering play on June 18.

There have been plenty of disappointing performances that have contributed to the Orioles' current position they are in.

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Plenty of blame will be placed on the pitching staff, namely the starting rotation, which looked like a weakness coming into the campaign. However, not even the most pessimistic of people could have foreseen things being this bad between injuries and ineffective play.

Alas, the pitching staff is far from the only culprit when it comes to underwhelming production.

In the lineup, several players have fallen woefully short of expectations.

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There have been a few standouts, such as designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn and center fielder Cedric Mullins. After starting the season on the injured list and taking a little while to knock off the rust, shortstop Gunnar Henderson is showing signs of returning to his normal level of output.

It has been a struggle for so many other players, such as former top prospect Heston Kjerstad.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft has all of the potential in the world, producing at an impressive clip in the minor leagues.

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But, something just hasn’t clicked for him at the Major Leauge level.

Inconsistent playing time certainly could have played a part in the past, but because of injuries and some offseason roster moves, Kjerstad was afforded the chance to play regularly in 2025 and didn’t capitalize.

He had a .192/.240/.327 slash line with an OPS+ of 62 and -1.4 bWAR before being sent down to the minor leagues.

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It would not be a stretch to say Kjerstad was one of the worst players in baseball thus far, evidenced by the Win Probability Added numbers shared by Thomas Nestico on X.

Kjerstad had a WPA of -1.94, which is the ninth lowest mark in the MLB. He is not coming through in important situations to help put the team in a position to win games.