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Orioles select Heston Kjerstad with second overall pick

June 10, 2020

The Baltimore Orioles tonight announced that they have selected outfielder HESTON KJERSTAD from the University of Arkansas with the second overall selection of the 2020 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

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Kjerstad, 21, hit .448/.513/.791 (30-for-67) with five doubles, six home runs, 19 runs, and 20 RBI in 16 games during his junior season, which was shortened due to COVID-19. He led the Razorbacks in batting average, hits, home runs, RBI, total bases (53), on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. He started all 16 games in right field and recorded at least one hit in each game. He was named to the Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List, as well as being named a First-Team Preseason All-American by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball.com, and Perfect Game. He was ranked as the No. 10 overall Draft prospect by MLB.com and the No. 13 prospect by Baseball America.

He’s had a tremendous career at Arkansas and he was having a ridiculous season before the shutdown happened, and he’s been flying up boards ever since. We’re so excited about him. We think he’s a middle-of-the-order bat. Great kid. Blue-collar kid. Hardworking kid from a good family, and a tremendous addition to our farm system.

Mike Elias

As a sophomore in 2019, Kjerstad helped lead Arkansas to their second straight College World Series. Kjerstad homered in each of the Fayetteville Regional, Fayetteville Super Regional, and College World Series. For the season, Kjerstad hit .327/.400/.575 (87-for-266) with 13 doubles, one triple, 17 home runs, 53 runs, and 51 RBI in 65 games. His 17 home runs were a career-best and were tied for the second-most in the SEC. He became the first Razorback since Rodney Nye in 1998-99 to have 50-or-more RBI in his first two seasons. He was named to the All-SEC Second-Team.

As a true freshman in 2018, Kjerstad was named the SEC Freshman of the Year, along with being named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and the All-SEC Second Team, after helping lead Arkansas to the College World Series. He made 69 starts for the Razorbacks, all of which came in the outfield, and hit .332/.419/.553 (87-for-262) with 16 doubles, 14 home runs, 65 runs, and 58 RBI. Kjerstad’s 14 home runs set an Arkansas freshman single-season record, and his 87 hits tied the freshman single-season record. He was named a NCBWA First-Team Freshman All-American as well as a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American.

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A native of Amarillo, Texas, Kjerstad attended Canyon Randall (Texas) High School. He was named the District 3-5A Newcomer of the Year in 2015 and the District 3-5A MVP and First Team 5A All-State Player in 2016. He was a member of the Amarillo Glove-News 2016 Baseball Super Team and attended the 2016 Perfect Game National Showcase. Kjerstad was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the 36th round of the 2017 MLB First-Year Player Draft following his senior year of high school but did not sign in order to attend the University of Arkansas.

I wasn’t really trying to get my hopes up for any pick. I was just waiting for the phone to ring and see what [happens]. Sure enough, after the Detroit Tigers turned in their pick, the phone rang and it was the Orioles and they wanted to pick me with their second pick. Man, I couldn’t say yes quick enough.

Heston Kjerstad