Orioles 2022 #10 Prospect Heston Kjerstad - RF

[interloper]

2 hours ago, 2001OriolesFan said:

Kjerstad is our future #5 hitter and 1st baseman.

I like the first base idea. Just turn him into Raffy. We need a 1B anyway in the system.

Edited December 3, 2022 by interloper

[NCRaven]

How can Kjerstad play 1B if Coby Mayo is standing there?

[sevastras]

5 hours ago, NCRaven said:

How can Kjerstad play 1B if Coby Mayo is standing there?

It’s the new “shift”, two 1B and two SSs. Analytics, blah, blah blah…

[Frobby]

Tidbit from Roch today:

A longtime National League scout said outfielder Heston Kjerstad was the best hitter he saw in the Arizona Fall League.

“He’s a middle-of-the-order bat,” the scout said. “He can hit and he has power.”

The same scout said Grayson Rodriguez is the best pitching prospect that he’s ever seen in the Orioles’ system. And I’ll stress again that he’s been doing this job, with multiple clubs, for a very long time.

https://www.masnsports.com/blog/some-leftovers-from-the-winter-meetings

[RZNJ]

Roch has an actual contact in the industry?

I'd have to read some his previous columns but I think this is his go to guy.   Probably someone who used to work for the Orioles and has moved on.

[Can_of_corn]

Fangraphs just posted an interview.  (Interview is from when he was in the AFL)

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/heston-kjerstad-talks-hitting/

Edited February 10, 2023 by Can_of_corn

[RZNJ]

Funny.  He mentions he and Rutschman "But then we are really similar in the nature of getting our hands to a consistent spot, using our lower halves very well, and hitting off our backsides.”

That is the opposite of what Longenhagen said.  He said that Kjerstad doesn't use his lower half well and called him a stiff legged athlete and he felt that was the one thing holding him back as a hitter.

[SemperFi]

I think you guys mean Max Meyer not Myers??  He's actually out for the year with TJ surgery after briefly making the majors with the Marlins.  I had the good fortune of coaching him for traveling ball and have followed his career since.  Big deal for our town in MN to have a kid drafted so high (#3) and then make the majors.  Ironically one of the reasons the Marlins drafted hime so high is they thought his delivery was so repeatable there was less chance for injury!! 

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, SemperFi said:

I think you guys mean Max Meyer not Myers??  He's actually out for the year with TJ surgery after briefly making the majors with the Marlins.  I had the good fortune of coaching him for traveling ball and have followed his career since.  Big deal for our town in MN to have a kid drafted so high (#3) and then make the majors.  Ironically one of the reasons the Marlins drafted hime so high is they thought his delivery was so repeatable there was less chance for injury!! 

It’s always a crapshoot with pitchers, it seems.  

[emmett16]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

Funny.  He mentions he and Rutschman "But then we are really similar in the nature of getting our hands to a consistent spot, using our lower halves very well, and hitting off our backsides.”

That is the opposite of what Longenhagen said.  He said that Kjerstad doesn't use his lower half well and called him a stiff legged athlete and he felt that was the one thing holding him back as a hitter.

So, one thing I've been learning about recently is the different physiological body types and how they determine how you should train, play, and set-up (this only applies to hitting).  A good friend of mine who is the hitting coach at UMD (who by the way hit the most HR in college baseball last year) runs a hitting consulting company that focuses on 1-identifying your body type 2-optimizing your workouts and approach based on your body type.  He has many MLB clients and is convinced his research is going to impact the industry.   What works for and is best for Player A is not always what works and is bet for Player B. In the industry, just like everywhere, there are growth mind set people and fixed mind set people.

Scout A- Doesn't understand body type and what makes that particular player successful says 'bad lower half'

Scout B- Understands that there are many different ways to achieve the same result 'he uses his lower half well'

 

 

[Just Regular]

1 hour ago, emmett16 said:

So, one thing I've been learning about recently is the different physiological body types and how they determine how you should train, play, and set-up (this only applies to hitting). 

I'm just going off memory as its probably 25 years ago something I read.    I believe in one of Bill James books he had an anecdote about Kirby Puckett and Glenn Braggs.    It ran like Braggs was this Apollo in the box, and Puckett just marveled at how good he looked when he hit.    At the same time his squatty frame and short levers weren't exactly a source of pride for him.     

Also, as Google's put memory out of business...here's what a Google of the three guys turned up....

"Did you ever notice how many great baseball players have what could loosely be described as a Hack Wilson type body? Kirby Puckett once said that his fantasy was to have a body like Glenn Braggs'. Kirby was a short, squat man who didn't look like a baseball player. Braggs was about 6' 3", slender, fast, very graceful - and of course, not one-tenth the player that Kirby Puckett was." - Bill James, from The Historical Baseball Abstract

[joelala]

32 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

I'm just going off memory as its probably 25 years ago something I read.    I believe in one of Bill James books he had an anecdote about Kirby Puckett and Glenn Braggs.    It ran like Braggs was this Apollo in the box, and Puckett just marveled at how good he looked when he hit.    At the same time his squatty frame and short levers weren't exactly a source of pride for him.     

Also, as Google's put memory out of business...here's what a Google of the three guys turned up....

"Did you ever notice how many great baseball players have what could loosely be described as a Hack Wilson type body? Kirby Puckett once said that his fantasy was to have a body like Glenn Braggs'. Kirby was a short, squat man who didn't look like a baseball player. Braggs was about 6' 3", slender, fast, very graceful - and of course, not one-tenth the player that Kirby Puckett was." - Bill James, from The Historical Baseball Abstract

I just googled Glenn Braggs, and learned he once broke his bat on a swing and miss. 

[SemperFi]

34 minutes ago, Just Regular said:

I'm just going off memory as its probably 25 years ago something I read.    I believe in one of Bill James books he had an anecdote about Kirby Puckett and Glenn Braggs.    It ran like Braggs was this Apollo in the box, and Puckett just marveled at how good he looked when he hit.    At the same time his squatty frame and short levers weren't exactly a source of pride for him.     

Also, as Google's put memory out of business...here's what a Google of the three guys turned up....

"Did you ever notice how many great baseball players have what could loosely be described as a Hack Wilson type body? Kirby Puckett once said that his fantasy was to have a body like Glenn Braggs'. Kirby was a short, squat man who didn't look like a baseball player. Braggs was about 6' 3", slender, fast, very graceful - and of course, not one-tenth the player that Kirby Puckett was." - Bill James, from The Historical Baseball Abstract

Kirby sort of grew his body, he was more of a speed/contact guy when he came up then more power as he grew out.  There is also no way he was 5'8", I took a pee once next to him!!  Hack was a sad story, his body was the result of alcohol fetal syndrome 5'6" 190 pounds and a size 5 shoe.  Shirley Povich once wrote that he was "built along the lines of a beer keg, and was not wholly unfamiliar with its contents."  His 191 RBI year in '30 was one of the greastest over.  Sadly both were known to abuse alcohol and died young in their 40's.  Gates Brown was probably my favorite big bodied guy and maybe the baddest dude to ever play the game, one of the most clutch hitters of all-the Tigers signed him straight of prison.

[bpilktree]

3 hours ago, Frobby said:

It’s always a crapshoot with pitchers, it seems.  

I been thinking about pitchers that have had arm issues and mostly looking at Tommy John surgery and without any real research it seems that American born players seem to need more TJS then the Latin American guys.   It would be interesting to see if there is a difference in if that is true.