The fact that Heston Kjerstad is wearing a big league uniform in the picture above speaks volumes about his 2023 season.
Kjerstad’s battle with myocarditis has been well documented. The Orioles selected the University of Arkansas product second overall in the 2020 draft, but Kjerstad missed two full years of baseball with heart inflammation. Through no fault of his own, he quickly became an afterthought in a system filled with impressive young players.
Kjerstad finally returned to professional baseball in 2022. He worked around a hamstring injury, dominated Low-A competition, and finally showed some rust when he arrived in Aberdeen.