Kjerstad still hasn't reported to alternate site [UPDATE: He's reported]

[Tony-OH]

47 minutes ago, Aglets said:

Also, a minor note.  Roch reported about a month ago that Kjerstad wouldn't be reporting to Florida after all.

https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2021/03/elias-explains-alternate-camp-setup-and-kjerstad-plans-plus-notes.html

They thought it would be best for him to report directly to Maryland.   Elias's language in that piece to me makes it seem like he was still recovering or feeling some effects or whatever.   Occam's Razor to me implies that is still going on.  But I am no doctor.  I would expect we will get an update soon.   I think it's rational for all of us to be concerned......I am too.   I think declaring him a bust is a bit too catastrophic at this time based on what little we do know.

I for one am not calling him a bust, but I will say his complete and utter disappearance and the fact that people even within the organization have no idea what's going in a concern. 

We all heard Elias say Kjerstad would report to the alternate camp back on 10 March, but the fact is he did not report to that site. We thought maybe there was a change and checked in Florida, nope, he's not there either.

The fact they we have been given no updates on the second overall picks whereabouts as all minor league players have now reported is a concern. 

The beat media, which is the only media to have access right now to Elias, Hyde and company doesn't appear too concerned as they are too busy getting fluffy quotes on Mancnini's home debut, six games after he made his season debut. 

 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

On 4/9/2021 at 2:02 PM, Tony-OH said:

I for one am not calling him a bust, but I will say his complete and utter disappearance and the fact that people even within the organization have no idea what's going in a concern. 

We all heard Elias say Kjerstad would report to the alternate camp back on 10 March, but the fact is he did not report to that site. We thought maybe there was a change and checked in Florida, nope, he's not there either.

The fact they we have been given no updates on the second overall picks whereabouts as all minor league players have now reported is a concern. 

The beat media, which is the only media to have access right now to Elias, Hyde and company doesn't appear too concerned as they are too busy getting fluffy quotes on Mancnini's home debut, six games after he made his season debut. 

 

I can only imagine how much attention this would be getting in New York if this was  the top draft pick of the Yankees or Mets that was MIA. It's barely registered with the Orioles beat writers. 

I get Kjerstad could be going through a very serious ordeal and it's not our right to know the intimate details. But we don't even have Elias giving a blanket statement to the effect that Kjerstad is involved with a personal matter, etc. and it will be awhile before he reports to the team. 

The lack of details on this almost makes it sound like Kjerstad could have been abducted by aliens. I hope Kjerstad is ok, but Elias is going to have to answer some questions if his baseball career is over and why the Orioles chose him over other prospects. 

[connja]

Ed Rod from the Sox missed all of last year with Myocardiosis following Covid.  Clearly there is precedent for these longer term absences.  

[Oriole1940]

The next time someone from this organization says they are transparent and aboveboard,  puke.

[Pushmonkey]

Has anyone seen CD and him in the same place? Could they be they same person? Same injuries? Same potholes?

[BirdinBama]

This must be the new "Oriole Way"!

[Jammer7]

So, we are being hyper-critical of the decision to draft Kjerstad, check. And we are criticizing the organization for not releasing more information about his health status, which they cannot as it is protected by federal law, check. And we are being critical of a guy for not doing anything yet, when nothing could have been done, check. We are criticizing a very talented young OF prospect because he has not played yet because he has myocarditis, which may or may not have occurred as a result of COVID, check. And we are criticizing said prospect for not exerting himself when that exertion could kill him, check. 

Fellas, really? I want to see him playing as bad as anyone, and hopefully that will be in the next month or so. I would imagine they will be cautious and ramp him up slowly. He missed half a season due to no minors season. So, he has missed two months that he could have done something, and perhaps instructs. 

Going forward, I would be happy if he gets back into competitive games by June and ends the year healthy. I am not expecting much from him this year. 

[Tony-OH]

2 hours ago, Jammer7 said:

So, we are being hyper-critical of the decision to draft Kjerstad, check. And we are criticizing the organization for not releasing more information about his health status, which they cannot as it is protected by federal law, check. And we are being critical of a guy for not doing anything yet, when nothing could have been done, check. We are criticizing a very talented young OF prospect because he has not played yet because he has myocarditis, which may or may not have occurred as a result of COVID, check. And we are criticizing said prospect for not exerting himself when that exertion could kill him, check. 

Fellas, really? I want to see him playing as bad as anyone, and hopefully that will be in the next month or so. I would imagine they will be cautious and ramp him up slowly. He missed half a season due to no minors season. So, he has missed two months that he could have done something, and perhaps instructs. 

Going forward, I would be happy if he gets back into competitive games by June and ends the year healthy. I am not expecting much from him this year. 

You have a lot of assumptions in here. 

Here are the facts that we know 100% about this Kjerstad situation.

1. Kjerstad was drafted number two overall and signed for $5.2 million

2. He did not attend Instructional League

3. Mike Elias said in February 2021 that Kjerstad missed instructional league with "an episode of myocarditis."

4. Mike Elias said in March 2021 that Kjerstad would report to the alternate camp when it starts up after major league spring training.

5. Kjerstad did not report to the alternate camp of Sarasota

6. The Orioles have seen Kjerstad play baseball since he was signed on 30 Jun 20.

Whether fans want to be critical of him or the situation is up to them, but the situation is we just don't know what the situation is currently. And that is very strange for a high profile draft pick/prospect especially now that everyone else has reported.

[LTO's]

19 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

but the situation is we just don't know what the situation is currently.

Isn't it pretty obvious that he still hasn't been fully cleared medically from the myocarditis? Roch reported that he wasn't cleared to report not that he was wandering around Arkansas and no one knows where he is. Am I missing something?

[Tony-OH]

28 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Isn't it pretty obvious that he still hasn't been fully cleared medically from the myocarditis? Roch reported that he wasn't cleared to report not that he was wandering around Arkansas and no one knows where he is. Am I missing something?

Here's the thing, there are people in the organization that don't even know what the situation is. If he hasn't been cleared due to myocarditis, the Orioles have not publicly said this as far as I know. Why wouldn't the team just put out a statement and say that he hasn't been cleared due to his "episode of myocarditis" which Elias has already mentioned as late as February? 

Why are people in the organization highly sensitive to discussing his name? 

The team was forth right with Trey Mancini's cancer fight, so why is it hush hush over Kjerstad? They've already disclosed his myocarditis so why would they just not publicly say, "He's still not cleared to participate in baseball activities and the next evaluation is "x amount of time?"

This is from a Joe Trezza article in March, "According to the report, the decision to hold Kjerstad out of Grapefruit League play is not based on any setback in Kjerstad's recovery from myocarditis, a condition that causes heart inflammation. Elias said Kjerstad will report to the alternate site “as soon as we start” following the conclusion of Spring Training. “We’re all eager to see him in action,” said Elias. “I know he’s eager to join the activities finally after what he’s been through.”

So what changed?

I've been around this game a long time and I will tell you this is the first time I've ever heard of a top prospect, who was the number two pick in a draft the year before, not show up.  The weirdest thing is when you ask people, they either say they don't know anything, or that the team is being very hush, hush over the situation.

I listened to Steve Melewski's interview of Matt Blood after Sunday's game, and he didn't bring it up, so he either he is an awful reporter (I know he's not) or as a MASN employee, he knew better than to ask the Farm Director the most obvious question. 

Of course Blood is very tight lipped about anything and wouldn't even discuss names of players who have looked different after the year off so getting anything other than very generic information about how they are conducting spring training (split site, number of players at each site, weather good, good vibe, etc) was not going to happen.

 

[Jammer7]

47 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

You have a lot of assumptions in here. 

Here are the facts that we know 100% about this Kjerstad situation.

1. Kjerstad was drafted number two overall and signed for $5.2 million

2. He did not attend Instructional League

3. Mike Elias said in February 2021 that Kjerstad missed instructional league with "an episode of myocarditis."

4. Mike Elias said in March 2021 that Kjerstad would report to the alternate camp when it starts up after major league spring training.

5. Kjerstad did not report to the alternate camp of Sarasota

6. The Orioles have seen Kjerstad play baseball since he was signed on 30 Jun 20.

Whether fans want to be critical of him or the situation is up to them, but the situation is we just don't know what the situation is currently. And that is very strange for a high profile draft pick/prospect especially now that everyone else has reported.

The only thing close to an assumption I made was whether or not he may or may not have had COVID. It is a fact that myocarditis can kill you if you exert yourself as you may as a professional athlete. I read quite a bit about it on the Mayo Clinic site awhile ago for more personal reasons. Elias has spoken about his situation as much as he can and that Heston is receiving treatment in preparation to come back when he is healthy enough to do so. Not sure why anyone would have issue with an artificial “deadline” of the beginning of the alt site when these things are all different for each case. 

No draft picks played in games last year. Some went to alternate sites for a week or two at the end of the season. Sure, he missed three weeks of instructs. And he has now missed two months of Spring Training and alternate site activity. Nearly all others slotted to play A ball are just beginning Spring Training. So, why not be a little more patient? I would imagine he needs to go through certain protocols and obviously get a clearance from the doctors. Until that happens, we will not see him report. 

As someone pointed out several posts ago, Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez missed the 2020 truncated season due to the same diagnosis. Precedent has been set with this. 

So, maybe he debuts in 2024 instead of 2023. Fans can have any opinion they wish, certainly. But this is a young man’s life we are talking about. Some are portraying this to be critical of the player, or the pick. Good grief!

 

[LTO's]

15 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

The team was forth right with Trey Mancini's cancer fight

If I remember correctly, the team did not say that Mancini was diagnosed with cancer right away. He was taken out for "non baseball" reasons which led to slew of speculation until Mancini himself announced it. Maybe that's the way they handle injuries/illnesses that are not baseball related. 

[Jammer7]

35 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Here's the thing, there are people in the organization that don't even know what the situation is. If he hasn't been cleared due to myocarditis, the Orioles have not publicly said this as far as I know. Why wouldn't the team just put out a statement and say that he hasn't been cleared due to his "episode of myocarditis" which Elias has already mentioned as late as February? 

Why are people in the organization highly sensitive to discussing his name? 

The team was forth right with Trey Mancini's cancer fight, so why is it hush hush over Kjerstad? They've already disclosed his myocarditis so why would they just not publicly say, "He's still not cleared to participate in baseball activities and the next evaluation is "x amount of time?"

I've been around this game a long time and I will tell you this is the first time I've ever heard of a top prospect, who was the number two pick in a draft the year before, not show up.  The weirdest thing is when you ask people, they either say they don't know anything, or that the team is being very hush, hush over the situation.

I listened to Steve Melewski's interview of Matt Blood after Sunday's game, and he didn't bring it up, so he either he is an awful reporter (I know he's not) or as a MASN employee, he knew better than to ask the Farm Director the most obvious question. 

Of course Blood is very tight lipped about anything and wouldn't even discuss names of players who have looked different after the year off.  

 

Does everyone in the organization need to know Kjerstad’s medical status? I mean, not sure to whom you are referring, or what their job is, but if they should know, perhaps they just cannot tell you. This organization does seem to be a little more right with their info leaking out that the past regimes. 

Mancini disclosed the majority of his diagnosis. The team spoke about it briefly initially. Then Trey put out a video and released a statement. Perhaps Kjerstad’s agent and parents want to be a little more private about his situation. 

Hopefully, a reporter asks the question in one of these Zoom conferences. Or maybe Elias makes some brief statement. But until then, can we not just assume he has not been cleared? I think they are just trying to respect Heston’s privacy and not make this a circus. The kid and the Orioles want that to be sooner than later I assume.

[Tony-OH]

58 minutes ago, Jammer7 said:

Does everyone in the organization need to know Kjerstad’s medical status? I mean, not sure to whom you are referring, or what their job is, but if they should know, perhaps they just cannot tell you. This organization does seem to be a little more right with their info leaking out that the past regimes. 

Mancini disclosed the majority of his diagnosis. The team spoke about it briefly initially. Then Trey put out a video and released a statement. Perhaps Kjerstad’s agent and parents want to be a little more private about his situation. 

Hopefully, a reporter asks the question in one of these Zoom conferences. Or maybe Elias makes some brief statement. But until then, can we not just assume he has not been cleared? I think they are just trying to respect Heston’s privacy and not make this a circus. The kid and the Orioles want that to be sooner than later I assume.

You can assume anything you want. You can not care and you can just assume everything is fine. You can make whatever assumption you want. I really don't care.

I find it odd that the Orioles GM spoke out to his timeline, made it seem like he was over his issue, and then when he doesn't arrive everyone gets real quiet. It's not like any situation I've ever encountered while covering this team since 1996. 

Feel free to have no concern and drive on with your day or you can freak out like some and call him a bust. I really don't care. I'm just stating the facts that we know, and stating that it's odd in how the organization is handling this particular situation.

I haven't made any proclamations about what I think is wrong with him nor am I bashing the organization, I'm just saying I've never encountered anything like this before. 

I really don't understand why a couple of you have an issue with anyone stating facts or feeling like something is not right just because they don't agree with your assumptions.

Something clearly has changed since Elias stated he would start at the alternate site and was excited to get started. You assume you know why. You may be right. But it still doesn't change that this is being handled very strangely, and that's from someone covering this team for 25 years.
 

 

 

[LTO's]

10 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

I really don't understand why a couple of you have an issue with anyone stating facts or feeling like something is not right just because they don't agree with your assumptions.

It's more that it is heavily implied in MASN's reporting that this is related to myocarditis (a very serious condition) and a possible setback in his recovery. Something that I'm not sure the Orioles wish to share at the moment, similar to the Mancini situation. You have shared innuendo about Kjerstad personally holding out because of anxiety/mental health issues. That is certainly not a fact. I suppose we will see but I don't find it to be as strange as you are saying.