Heston Kjerstad 2023

[MurphDogg]

9 hours ago, Just Regular said:

He went 5-for-6 in yesterday's doubleheader to leapfrog Cowser in AAA wRC+ on the year.

28 loooong days from today to the Gunnar debut anniversary date.

The rule is 45 pre-September days or 130 at-bats to maintain rookie eligibility. There aren't that many days until September and I doubt he would get 130 at-bats even if he were up here tomorrow.

As long as Hays and Santander are healthy and O'Hearn and Mountcastle are hitting, it makes sense to let him play every day in AAA until rosters expand.

I can't see him taking anyone on the current 26-man roster's spot anyway.

Come September 1, he will get the occasional start over one of Hays, Santander, O'Hearn and Mountastle and pinch-hit for a non-Henderson shortstop, second, or third baseman.

Edited August 4, 2023 by MurphDogg

[Just Regular]

Kjerstad isn't the prospect Gunnar was, but I don't rule out him earning priority play by October over Mountcastle or Urias or Hicks or Cowser assuming O'Hearn-Hays-Mullins-Santander are 1B/OF.

DH will be open as a full time job in the tournament as Adley will catch every game.

It still feels in the range of outcomes the Club could prefer Kjerstad (or Holliday, or Cowser if he improves) up against top RHP over Urias, Mountcastle, etc.

Also hmmm...Cowser is now at about 30 pre-September days.     There might be a needle to thread in which Cowser clings to 2024 Rookie of the Year race eligibility too, but he'd need an option in next couple weeks not to experience the service time days eligibility loss.

[AnythingO's]

In my ongoing attempt to get my favorite Mil player onto the first page. I submit Heston's stats YTD at Bow and NOR. He is hitting better at AAA, seems to be accelerating, I truly hope his bat is called up Sept 1. He doesn't walk much but doesn't SO much either. By OPS he leads Cowser, Ortiz, Westburg, trailing only O'Hearn (1.133).

Month	Team	AB	SO	BB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
April	BOW	67	14		0.284	0.392	0.612	1.004
May	BOW	99	14		0.313	0.364	0.545	0.909
FINAL	BOW	184	31	15	0.31	0.383	0.576	0.959
June	NOR	74	17		0.297	0.384	0.568	0.952
July	NOR	75	16		0.387	0.453	0.64	1.093
YTD	NOR	170	36	15	0.341	0.415	0.588	1.017

[sportsfan8703]

On 8/3/2023 at 10:14 PM, Just Regular said:

Kjerstad isn't the prospect Gunnar was, but I don't rule out him earning priority play by October over Mountcastle or Urias or Hicks or Cowser assuming O'Hearn-Hays-Mullins-Santander are 1B/OF.

DH will be open as a full time job in the tournament as Adley will catch every game.

It still feels in the range of outcomes the Club could prefer Kjerstad (or Holliday, or Cowser if he improves) up against top RHP over Urias, Mountcastle, etc.

Also hmmm...Cowser is now at about 30 pre-September days.     There might be a needle to thread in which Cowser clings to 2024 Rookie of the Year race eligibility too, but he'd need an option in next couple weeks not to experience the service time days eligibility loss.

DH really isn’t open.  We’re trying to figure out how to play O’Hearn and Mountcastle in the same lineup. We’ll be getting Hicks and Mullins back. It will be hard for Kjerstad to crack the lineup unless Elias deals Santander. 

[EricK]

On 8/3/2023 at 9:56 PM, MurphDogg said:

The rule is 45 pre-September days or 130 at-bats to maintain rookie eligibility. There aren't that many days until September and I doubt he would get 130 at-bats even if he were up here tomorrow.

It was changed a couple of years ago to 45 non-IL days during the regular season.

 

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/rules/rookie-eligibility

 

Rookie Eligibility

Definition

A player shall be considered a rookie unless he has exceeded any of the following thresholds in a previous season (or seasons):

• 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues.
• 45 total days on an active Major League roster during the Championship Season (excluding time on the Injured List).

A player must have rookie eligibility to be considered for any MLB rookie awards -- such as the American League or National League Rookie of the Year Award -- or appear on any MLB Pipeline prospect lists.

 

[Just Regular]

We'll see how it plays out - I'm just saying in simplest terms I think Elias considers Kjerstad a more potent bat - by a lot - than any of Mountcastle, Hicks, Urias, Westburg, Frazier or other possibilities to be the 9th starting Bat most October days.    

It might be due diligence maximizing 2023 to get the data how his talent interacts with MLB Arms in September.   I have a feeling Aaron Hicks injury recovery might be slow anyway.

[MurphDogg]

8 hours ago, EricK said:

It was changed a couple of years ago to 45 non-IL days during the regular season.

 

https://www.mlb.com/glossary/rules/rookie-eligibility

 

Rookie Eligibility

Definition

A player shall be considered a rookie unless he has exceeded any of the following thresholds in a previous season (or seasons):

• 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues.
• 45 total days on an active Major League roster during the Championship Season (excluding time on the Injured List).

A player must have rookie eligibility to be considered for any MLB rookie awards -- such as the American League or National League Rookie of the Year Award -- or appear on any MLB Pipeline prospect lists.

Gotcha. Forgot about that change.

[CaptainRedbeard]

Since going 3/4 on August 2, Kjerstad has been scuffling a bit. In 43 PA he’s batting .225 with 2 BB and 12 K.

I think that pumps the breaks on him being a September call up unless he heats up again in the next 2 weeks. He’s now at a 133 wRC+ in 228 PA at AAA, which is of course great but not even close to Cowser at 152 wRC+ in 257 PA there this year. Possibly Kjerstad is wearing down physically too - he missed a ton of time after being drafted obviously and then had a long season last year with playing in the AFL.

I don’t think Kjerstad has leapfrogged Cowser if they want to call up another OF in September. I still think it’s more likely they call up Ortiz to start instead of Mateo/Urias/Frazier against LHP. 

[LookinUp]

According to this page, Ortiz and Kjerstad now have nearly identical batting stats. 

Their OPS is lower than Cowser's and higher than Westburg's. Pretty good. Oh, and Ortiz looks like a gold glover.

https://www.statscrew.com/minorbaseball/stats/t-nt13396/y-2023

[Moose Milligan]

On 8/3/2023 at 2:18 PM, Paul in Virginia said:

 

 

That's adorable.

[Frobby]

This highlight is of a double by Joey Ortiz, but watch Kjerstad scoring from 1B and tell me he’s slow.  

 

[Sports Guy]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

This highlight is of a double by Joey Ortiz, but watch Kjerstad scoring from 1B and tell me he’s slow.  

 

Yea we talked about this last week. Not sure where that narrative came from or why the scouting reports have his speed graded so low but he’s not some plodding below average runner.

[Aglets]

2 for 3 last night.....that's nice.   Unfortunately he was 2 for his previous 29.  

I'm not sure it's logical to expect him to make his O's debut before 2024 now.

[Sports Guy]

18 minutes ago, Aglets said:

2 for 3 last night.....that's nice.   Unfortunately he was 2 for his previous 29.  

I'm not sure it's logical to expect him to make his O's debut before 2024 now.

Why? Because of one slump? 

[Aglets]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

Why? Because of one slump? 

It doesn't help.  Also they are only allowed to add one hitter in September right?    Does he fit the roster more now vs someone like Ortiz or Cowser?