Heston Kjerstad 2024

[spiritof66]

53 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

The discussion in the offseason was, if you trade one, who do you trade.

I kept going back and forth on the answer but my ultimate thought process was that Cowser is the better all around player but Kjerstad’s best tool, his power, is better than any single tool Cowser has.

I still basically stand by that thought. 
 

This is a long winded way of saying Kjerstad’s power is just better than Cowser’s, so he definitely can get away with things that Cowser can’t.

You have pointed out a lot of warning track outs for Cowser. I would suspect many of those would be homers off of Kjerstad’s bat.

IMO, if Cowser stays with the Orioles, it will be largely because of his defensive ability, especially his ability to play a passable CF. Those qualities are in short supplr right now, and with their need for pitching, Mullins' signs of life, and (so far) reluctance to give up talent in trades, I don't see a CF upgrade coming any time soon. 

[OriolesMagic83]

Any historical players that people think are comparables to Kjerstad.  High power/decent average/poor to passable defense at 1B/RF/DH.  I thought of Tony Armas.  https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/armasto01.shtml  I think Kjerstad would have better OBP.

[interloper]

It struck me last night that Kjerstad kind of looks like a supersized Holliday lol. Upright batting stance, big leg kick, and obv the "Orioles prospect factory" appearance. 

[sportsfan8703]

23 hours ago, spiritof66 said:

IMO, if Cowser stays with the Orioles, it will be largely because of his defensive ability, especially his ability to play a passable CF. Those qualities are in short supplr right now, and with their need for pitching, Mullins' signs of life, and (so far) reluctance to give up talent in trades, I don't see a CF upgrade coming any time soon. 

Heston should get AB's over Cowser the rest of this season.  Cowser has like a .500 OPS since the first few weeks of the season.  Hopefully, he'll turn it around.  

Through 106 Games and 342 PA Cowser has a .685 OPS.  

In 26 Games and 70 PA Kjerstad has a .879 OPS.  

SSS, but early results nonetheless.  

[Big Mac]

9 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Heston should get AB's over Cowser the rest of this season.  Cowser has like a .500 OPS since the first few weeks of the season.  Hopefully, he'll turn it around.  

Through 106 Games and 342 PA Cowser has a .685 OPS.  

In 26 Games and 70 PA Kjerstad has a .879 OPS.  

SSS, but early results nonetheless.  

Well this is just blatantly incorrect.  He did have a .580 OPS in May followed by a .679 in June.  Over the last 28 days, he has a .738 OPS and over the last week its .850.  Throughout this entire stretch his batted ball data remained strong.  Are the first few weeks of the season carrying his numbers?  Sure.  But to say he has "like a .500 OPS" since the first few weeks of the season is massive stretch.

This also isn't taking into account the defensive dropoff from Cowser to Kjerstad.  The good news is there is plenty of room for both of them to get regular at-bats.