The Orioles made a bunch of cuts this week, almost all expected: youngsters like Jackson Holliday, Connor Norby, Kyle Dowdy and precocious big bopper Coby Mayo. More interesting, though, was one cut the team didn’t make: Heston Kjerstad, the 24-year old lefty slugger with a grand total of 65 pro games under his belt and zero Double-A experience.
Perhaps the flashiest of the 15 remaining non-roster invitees, Kjerstad is turning heads this spring, flashing not just contact ability, gap-to-gap power and an impressive set of wheels, but also a preparedness to face MLB-caliber pitching that could seriously accelerate his ETA in the majors.