After drafting collegiate catcher Adley Rutschman first overall in 2019, the Orioles’ encore the following year would be the second overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. With it, they decided to choose another college bat, and unlike Rutschman, no one saw Heston Kjerstad’s selection coming.
Although it’s going to be quite a while before the front office’s work on these picks can be judged — Kjerstad in particular — they represent potential cornerstones for the franchise.
The Orioles weren’t the first team to select Heston Kjerstad in the MLB Draft. That distinction went to the Seattle Mariners in 2017, when they made the left-handed hitter a 36th round selection out of Canyon Randall high school in Amarillo, TX.