Heston Kjerstad’s Time to Shine Is Now

Fighting for Reps

In recent years, the Orioles have accumulated a ridiculous amount of minor-league depth, but they’ve also been guilty of keeping their young players down in the minors for too long, and for occasionally blocking their paths to the majors for longer than is necessary.

Connor Norby fell under that umbrella and ultimately wound up being traded to the Miami Marlins … for Trevor Rogers. The argument could be made that Coby Mayo is also currently receiving this treatment, but he can’t be contained for much longer.

It seemed that Kjerstad was going to sail into consistent at-bats to open the 2025 season, yet Baltimore signed both Tyler O’Neill and Ramon Laureano (while also bringing aboard Dylan Carlson, who was optioned to Triple-A to start the year) to complement Cedric Mullins and Cowser on the grass. Kjerstad can also play DH and first base as needed, but the presence of Ryans O’Hearn and Mountcastle muddied those waters as well.

A Process All Too Familiar

It may be easy to forget after how Cowser himself got his first shot in the big leagues. He had a 26-game showing in 2023 but he hit just .115 with a pair of extra-base hits and 22 strikeouts in 61 at-bats. He made the club’s Opening Day roster last year, but was mostly stuck behind Austin Hays on the depth chart to open the season.

Hays had become a fixture in Baltimore’s lineup and was a popular figure on the team. However, he hit .111 through the first month of the season while Cowser hit .303 with six home runs and 18 RBI. Hays’ bat began to trail off and then – stop me if you’ve heard this before – went on the injured list with a thumb injury and the door was opened up for Cowser to step in.

Despite the fact that Cowser hit under .200 in each of the next two months, he was one of the best rookies in baseball this past year and probably should’ve taken home the hardware as the American League’s best rookie, if we’re being honest here.

Still, the similarities between these two stories is pretty shocking. You have two blocked prospects who stumble into their first real shots at consistent playing time when the player above them on the depth chart goes down with a thumb injury.

Kjerstad Gets His Shot

Life can be unfair sometimes, but things can have a funny way of working themselves out sometimes. It seemed that Kjerstad was once again headed for a spot where he wasn’t going to be able to thrive, but Cowser’s missed time is finally going to blow the door wide open for Kjerstad to succeed.

The 26-year-old swings the bat from the left side, so it feels likely that the Orioles give him the vast majority of his at-bats against righties while Laureano and/or Carlson get an extended look against left-handed pitching. Don’t sleep on the fact that Kjerstad is hit .316 through his first 19 big-league at-bats against lefties though. Left-handed bats don’t always have to struggle against southpaws.

In fact, Kjerstad got the start as the Orioles’ DH on Monday … against a left-handed pitcher. He promptly went 1-for-4 with a run driven in.

The Orioles have one of the best young rosters in the game, and there’s no doubt that they’re heading right back to the postseason this year. All around the diamond they have players that are amongst the best in the business at their respective positions, but they need to know when it’s time to start giving the unproven options a shot.

With Cowser out for the next two months or so, Kjerstad is finally going to get his.