This story was excerpted from Jake Rill’s Orioles Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BOWIE, Md. -- Heston Kjerstad and Coby Mayo are spending the early months of the 2023 season as teammates at Double-A Bowie. They’re also spending it as first-time roommates. But they have a fairly low-key apartment life when they return from games each night.

“We don’t really do too much once we get back,” Kjerstad said.

They have been watching some NBA and NHL playoff games. Mayo, a native of Coral Springs, Fla., has avidly been following the Miami Heat and the Florida Panthers during their respective postseason runs, so those games have frequently been on the TV.

They also talk hitting -- as hard as they may try not to. Somehow, scouting reports on opposing pitchers always seem to creep into the conversation.

“You talk a little bit on what he saw, what you saw. Or maybe there’s some dude he’s faced 10 times throughout his career or vice versa, where it’s like, ‘Hey man, this kid likes this pitch,’” Kjerstad said. “So you’re always bouncing stuff off each other or talking hitting, that’s just the way it is. You try to turn it off when you leave the field, but you never do.”

These in-person chats between Kjerstad and Mayo may not happen for too much longer. Or if they do, it could be in a new apartment. Perhaps one a bit closer to Norfolk, Va. Because these two are tormenting pitchers across the Double-A Eastern League and are loudly knocking on the door to Triple-A.

Kjerstad (the Orioles’ No. 4 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 50 overall prospect) entered Saturday slashing .301/.372/.574 with nine doubles, three triples, 11 homers and 22 RBIs in 44 games. It's the 24-year-old's first season at the Double-A level. He missed all of 2021 due to myocarditis and early ‘22 with a left hamstring strain, so he entered ‘23 having never played above High-A.

But as Kjerstad showed in the Arizona Fall League last year, Spring Training this year and now early in his time with the Baysox, he rakes everywhere he goes.

“He’s a really smart hitter, a really smart player,” Mayo said. “He knows a lot about the swing. He knows a lot about what he’s doing. He does everything with a purpose. And I mean, it shows in the game.”

The Orioles are making Kjerstad (the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 MLB Draft) more versatile by having him play first base for the first time since he played three games there during his ‘20 junior season at the University of Arkansas. He’s made nearly as many starts at first (15) as he has in the outfield (20) this year and said he’s feeling more comfortable there as his game reps go up.

Mayo (No. 8, No. 100 overall) is slashing .283/.400/.524 with 17 doubles, one triple, seven homers and 24 RBIs in 46 games entering Saturday. The 21-year-old third baseman, who was a fourth-round pick in 2020, has built upon his 34-game stint with Bowie last year in impressive fashion.

Together, Kjerstad and Mayo -- regularly batting first and second in Bowie’s order, respectively -- have formed a potent duo. They’re fun to watch, and they’re greatly appreciated by their Baysox teammates.

“When you know you’ve got two of the best bats in Double-A coming up at the top of the order every night, it gives you a huge boost of confidence,” said right-hander Justin Armbruester, the Orioles’ No. 30 prospect who is part of Bowie’s rotation. “If you make a mistake, they’re going to punish the other guy’s mistake and either hit it in the gap or hit it out of the ballyard.”

When could Kjerstad and/or Mayo make the next jump to Triple-A Norfolk? That remains unclear. General manager Mike Elias said earlier this month that Baltimore’s front office is having a “constant conversation” about when to promote Kjerstad. Meanwhile, Mayo is three years younger, but he has 94 more games of Minor League experience.

Rather than worrying about when they’ll move up, they're focusing on an aspect of development that they can control -- playing as well as possible at Double-A. And, of course, helping each other do the same with their frequent chats, both at the ballpark and at home.

“Going about approaches of different guys -- he’s a lefty, I’m a righty, so it could be different at times in how they attack him with changeups, how they attack me with sliders and vice versa,” Mayo said. “His approach and how he sees a game could definitely benefit me, too.”