Kjerstad 2023

[Sports Guy]

 

[interloper]

Kjerstad is at the very top of my list of players I'm excited to watch this year. I'm very bullish on him. The only thing is I wish he was a 1B at this point, but it'll also be interesting to see how he does with a full season in the OF.

[Jammer7]

1 hour ago, interloper said:

Kjerstad is at the very top of my list of players I'm excited to watch this year. I'm very bullish on him. The only thing is I wish he was a 1B at this point, but it'll also be interesting to see how he does with a full season in the OF.

I can understand that, and perhaps he has taken some work there. From a value standpoint, I think it better he stays in the OF for now. After the hammy last year, he may have been taking it somewhat easy with the running and such. He looked slower in the Fall than he did before the injury. I want to see how he moves this year before moving him to 1B. That may well be his eventual landing spot. 

[emmett16]

How can you not pull for this guy? Would be so cool if he just absolutely blew up this year and made an impact at the MLB level.  

Edited February 7, 2023 by emmett16

[waroriole]

I’m definitely rooting for him, but I’m still not sold. There was no power at Delmarva, despite the other worldly BA. He showed some power in the AFL, but you don’t see the best pitchers in that league. I’m hopeful that he’s fully recovered, and the power is there this year, but I’m gonna need to see it first. 

[Frobby]

15 minutes ago, waroriole said:

I’m definitely rooting for him, but I’m still not sold. There was no power at Delmarva, despite the other worldly BA. He showed some power in the AFL, but you don’t see the best pitchers in that league. I’m hopeful that he’s fully recovered, and the power is there this year, but I’m gonna need to see it first. 

I thought Longenhagen’s report on him was really interesting:

“If you buy that his bat-to-ball performance against A-ball pitching is for real, or that he’ll find a way to more readily get to his plus raw power in games, then Kjerstad belongs on your personal top 100. The combination of his severe hamstring injury and the visual stiffness of his lower half (especially his front side) during his swing should give one pause in both regards. Kjerstad is capable of generating huge bat speed simply by turning his hands over through the zone because his wrists are incredibly strong. Often, Kjerstad does this with a flat bat path that enables him to snatch high fastballs, but his lower half’s stiffness makes it tough for him to elevate lower pitches. He tracks pitches well with his eyes and tends to hit the ball hard somewhere, just not with home run launch befitting his level of raw power. Kjerstad’s signature AFL moment came at Scottsdale Stadium when he hit a ball over the Charro Lodge, an elevated party deck in right field, which is something like 450 feet away. That kind of thump is in there, it’s just not actualized in games because of Kjerstad’s swing, and it’s tough to proactively project a swing change for such a stiff-legged athlete.”

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/baltimore-orioles-top-38-prospects-2023

Edited February 5, 2023 by Frobby

[LookinUp]

6 hours ago, Jammer7 said:

I can understand that, and perhaps he has taken some work there. From a value standpoint, I think it better he stays in the OF for now. After the hammy last year, he may have been taking it somewhat easy with the running and such. He looked slower in the Fall than he did before the injury. I want to see how he moves this year before moving him to 1B. That may well be his eventual landing spot. 

The Blood interview made it clear (to me at least) they don't see a need to develop a 1B, or at least not someone who's exclusively 1B. It seems like they'll take the best hitting - worst fielders and put them at 1B. I immediately thought of Kjerstad.

[btdart20]

Love the confidence!  

[OriolesMagic83]

Obviously there are some flaws in his game, but his relative lack of power could be due to his almost 2 year layoff.  I think this year will be a better judge of his ability.  He still made it thru 3 levels while "struggling".