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Not what either the Orioles or Kjerstad envisioned when the team drafted him with the 2nd overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft. The 27-year-old was once a top 100 prospect, but his career has not been a steady progression. He missed the 2021 season with myocarditis and didn’t make his major league debut until 2023. He’s never had more than 167 MLB plate appearances in any season, but did hit .289/.337/.462 with 11 home runs and a 106 wRC+ in 333 plate appearances for Triple-A Norfolk this season. He will likely have a few suitors in free agency to see if they can reclaim some of his former prospect sheen.

Kjerstad was brought up from Triple-A Norfolk on September 23 but hadn’t drawn a start until now. The 27-year-old outfielder will bat eighth for the O’s against Yankees’ right-hander Elmer Rodriguez on Sunday afternoon in New York.

With Samuel Basallo (concussion) landing on the injured list, Kjerstad, who had been optioned to the minors four days ago, will come back up. The former top prospect is just 4-for-19 (.211) in 11 games with the Orioles this season and was hitting .287/.334/.456 with 11 home runs and 44 RBI in 79 games at Triple-A.

Kjerstad went 4-for-19 with nine strikeouts during a nearly three-week stint with Baltimore. He winds up back in the minors with rookie Christian Franklin back from the injured list. The 27-year-old former top prospect doesn’t seem like an essential part of the club’s core moving forward and seems like a logical offseason trade candidate.

Kjerstad joins Baltimore’s crowded outfield mix and is likely to be relegated to a bench role for the final couple weeks with Luis Robert Jr. coming over as a waiver claim. The 27-year-old was the second-overall pick in the 2020 draft and hasn’t been able to establish himself as an everyday option at the highest level after missing time for health reasons earlier in his career.

Just what the Orioles needed after claiming Luis Robert off waivers, another outfielder. Kjerstad deserves the chance. He has hit .289/.337/.462 with 11 home runs and 44 RBI in 79 games at Triple-A this season and has hit .301 since the start of July. That being said, it’s hard to see him getting anything more than the rare spot start and pinch-hit at-bats against righties. The Orioles outfield is a mess to predict right now.

Kjerstad had already been at Triple-A Norfolk on a minor league rehab assignment while recovering from his right hamstring strain. He’ll remain there in an everyday role until the O’s have a need for him at the big league level.

Kjerstad will presumably get a chance to join Baltimore’s outfield mix at some point later this month. He’s eligible to return from the 60-day injured list next week. The 27-year-old former top prospect has been on the shelf recovering from a hamstring strain since spring training.

The procedural move doesn’t adversely impact Kjerstad’s potential return timeline. The 27-year-old corner outfielder is currently on a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk working his way back from a hamstring strain. He won’t return to Baltimore until at least mid-to-late May.

Kjerstad has been on the shelf recovering from a hamstring strain since the end of spring training. The 27-year-old former prospect doesn’t have much of a path to playing time in Baltimore once he’s fully healthy given their abundance of corner outfield depth. Still, it’s a positive sign to see him healthy and back in game action again after missing the final few months of last season in the minors with an undisclosed medical issue.

Kjerstad injured his hamstring towards the end of spring training and has been out ever since. Kjerstad really needs to hit the ground running and push his way into the conversation in Baltimore when he gets healthy, but it’s a fairly stacked outfield that has already pushed Colton Cowser to the brink of fantasy irrelevance. It’s hard to imagine Kjerstad having fantasy value in the near future.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that manager Craig Albernaz told reporters that Kjerstad remains without a timetable for a return. The 27-year-old outfielder suffered a hamstring strain in spring training, and is looking at a role that doesn’t have fantasy relevance whenever he gets back to Baltimore.

Kjerstad was enjoying a strong spring, but injured his hamstring over the weekend and now will be sidelined for a few weeks. He will then have to hit his way back into another MLB opportunity.

Kjerstad is heading to Baltimore to undergo further imaging to determine the severity after suffering the injury earlier this week. The latest development guarantees that he’ll open the season on the injured list and takes him out of the running for a bench role. There should be a clear return timeline at some point next week.

Kjerstad’s homer off Connor Prielipp was his second of the spring, and he’s sporting a .318/.348/.636 line in 23 plate appearances. He’s trying to overtake Leody Taveras or Dylan Beavers for a spot on Baltimore’s roster, but that seems like a lot to ask for after a 2025 season in which he hit .192/.240/.327 in 167 plate appearances in the majors and even worse than that in 27 minor league games. He probably needs to go back and excel in Triple-A for a spell.

Kjerstad was not necessarily in the plans to start the season on the Opening Day roster, but the former top prospect has gone 6-for-14 so far this spring with one home run, two RBI, and just one strikeout in five games. Last year was a tough year for the 27-year-old, but after watching Kyle Stowers emerge in Miami, the Orioles may not be ready to give up on another former top prospect outfielder. The issue for Kjerstad is that Tyler O’Neill and Leody Taveras have no minor league options, so it may be a battle between Kjerstad and Dylan Beavers for the final spot on the Orioles’ roster.

Kjerstad opened the scoring in the contest, belting a full-count slider from Jack Flaherty for a 399-foot (100.5 mph EV) solo shot that got the Orioles on the board in the top half of the first inning. The 27-year-old outfielder also grounded out twice, finishing the afternoon 1-for-3. With a strong showing in Grapefruit League play, Kjerstad has a chance to earn regular playing time in the Orioles’ lineup to start the 2026 campaign, which would make him an intriguing late-round option for fantasy purposes.

Baltimore’s newly-minted skipper added that he’s eager to work with the former top prospect this spring to get him back on track. Kjerstad missed the final two months of last season at Triple-A Norfolk with an undisclosed medical issue. The positive news is that he’s made a full recovery and will be a full-go at the outset of spring training. The 26-year-old former second-overall pick has faded from fantasy relevance in recent years but a clean bill of health and a different manager could help revive his career. His most likely path to regular at-bats involves prying playing time away from top prospects Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo in a hybrid role between right field and DH. He’s a name to watch in spring training, especially in deeper mixed leagues.

Kjerstad refused to expound upon what type of condition Kjerstad is dealing with, but said that “Kjerstad will be in Spring Training.” It’s hard to know for sure how long the 26-year-old outfielder was battling whatever condition he’s battling, but it would be safe to say that it was at least partially responsible for a poor season that saw him hit .192/.240/.327 with four home runs in 167 MLB plate appearances.