2020 1st round pick (2): Heston Kjerstad - OF - (Junior) (Arkansas)

[joelala]

39 minutes ago, gohogs14 said:

Just for reference, Kjerstad had more HR, more RBIs, and almost identical OPS (1.011-1.007) to Martin. Hitting nearly .350 career in the SEC isn't easy to do.

He's a bit of an awkward athlete but for his size he isn't slow at all once he gets going. Long, lanky strides. He still looks like he could add on to his frame and has room to grow some more. Still looks like he's about 16 in the face lol.

He does have some weird mental baserunning errors and he made some mistakes defensively when he was in LF that made you scratch your head, but he seemed much better in RF. Played a little bit of 1B too. He also made some outstanding plays in the outfield so you can tell he has the athleticism to make them just doesn't do it consistently. Robbed a home run against Dallas Baptist a few years ago in the Regional by climbing the outfield wall.

Also plays with a bit of an attitude:

Great perspective. Thank you. And I love the fire! 
 

The pick is growing on me as well. 

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, joelala said:

Great perspective. Thank you. And I love the fire! 
 

The pick is growing on me as well. 

I've been looking for a new Oriole to defend to other teams since Manny got traded.

[joelala]

4 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

I've been looking for a new Oriole to defend to other teams since Manny got traded.

You and me both. I’m excited to see his aim with the bat too. 

[OsEatAlEast]

Welcome aboard Mr. Kjerstad! Hope your career in Baltimore is a long and fruitful one!

 

[Just Regular]

It's five years since Benintendi got drafted from the Razorbacks - obviously a different kind of hitter.

NCAA Benintendi Ages 19-20: 326/431/525 with 52/74 K/BB.   He is a July 6 birthday, so really gets the July 1 cutoff bump.

NCAA Hjerstad Ages 19-21: 343/421/590 with 129/54 K/BB, and the tantalizing 9/7 K/BB this year.  I did hear Elias last night saying Arkansas played a difficult early season schedule.

[Can_of_corn]

8 minutes ago, OrioleDog said:

It's five years since Benintendi got drafted from the Razorbacks - obviously a different kind of hitter.

NCAA Benintendi Ages 19-20: 326/431/525 with 52/74 K/BB.   He is a July 6 birthday, so really gets the July 1 cutoff bump.

NCAA Hjerstad Ages 19-21: 343/421/590 with 129/54 K/BB, and the tantalizing 9/7 K/BB this year.  I did hear Elias last night saying Arkansas played a difficult early season schedule.

Someone posted the schedule, It included two ranked teams.

[Just Regular]

https://www.baltimorebaseball.com/2020/06/10/orioles-select-arkanas-heston-kjerstad-second-overall-pick-draft/?fbclid=IwAR0YvDutRUaseaXP1dmtfqaZUbKUMUl8TTRHyn2WmeDLDs0Vi-wgdmfGaD8

Dubroff has the tidbit he was in a Texas high school All-Star game a couple years back, which gives me some context on Grayson's rapid happy tweet last night.

[baltfan]

48 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Someone posted the schedule, It included two ranked teams.

I think this is like every hit from this past year.  Gives you a good idea of the quality of the competition and his approach.

 

[higgybaby]

18 hours ago, Frobby said:

I’m not going to lie — I pretty much hate this pick.    I don’t like the ratio of upside to downside.    To me it’s a clear underslot move to try to save room.    I would not have gone this route.   

That said, I will root hard for this kid to succeed and prove how little I know.     Bring it on!
 

This is how I feel exactly. 

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, higgybaby said:

This is how I feel exactly. 

I feel a little better today after reading Elias’ reasoning.     Still, the pick makes me nervous.  I also think the strategy may have backfired when none of the pitchers Elias liked were available at 30.    He probably thought one of them was going to be there and that he’d need extra money to sign them.  

[higgybaby]

This is depressing. 

[GuidoSarducci]

19 hours ago, atomic said:

Martin could just go back into the draft next year if he doesn’t get the money he wants.

Who was that Boras client who was drafted high, kept demanding a big payday which he never got, and ended up waning out of baseball in a few years, missing out on millions of dollars ?  I think this was early 2000s. 

[eddie83]

4 hours ago, OrioleDog said:

https://www.baltimorebaseball.com/2020/06/10/orioles-select-arkanas-heston-kjerstad-second-overall-pick-draft/?fbclid=IwAR0YvDutRUaseaXP1dmtfqaZUbKUMUl8TTRHyn2WmeDLDs0Vi-wgdmfGaD8

Dubroff has the tidbit he was in a Texas high school All-Star game a couple years back, which gives me some context on Grayson's rapid happy tweet last night.

I heard Heston today on radio say he played summer ball with him. 

[86this]

35 minutes ago, GuidoSarducci said:

Who was that Boras client who was drafted high, kept demanding a big payday which he never got, and ended up waning out of baseball in a few years, missing out on millions of dollars ?  I think this was early 2000s. 

Brian Bullington?

[OsEatAlEast]

8 hours ago, baltfan said:

I think this is like every hit from this past year.  Gives you a good idea of the quality of the competition and his approach.

 

He looks to have decent speed for a power hitter. Safe at first on a bunt pretty much back to the pitcher.