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SEATTLE – The starts keep coming to Orioles outfielder Heston Kjerstad, with injuries presenting more opportunities than otherwise would be available to a struggling hitter.
Kjerstad appeared in his 51st game last night, making his 18th start in right. He’s made 25 in left and served as designated hitter in one game.
Opportunities aren’t the issue here. It’s the results, which lowered his average to .185 with a .231 on-base percentage and .308 slugging percentage heading into last night.
Kjerstad tripled on Sunday, the first of his career, but was picked off third base. He broke an 0-for-20 streak and was 3-for-38 in his past 10 games.
Batting eighth last night against Mariners right-hander George Kirby, Kjerstad lined a 96.5 mph fastball up the middle for a one-out single in the second inning and lined out to left field to end the fourth. He lined to center on Sunday, and to third and left field on Saturday.
Sometimes, it’s just unfortunate luck and positioning.
Sometimes, the ball finds grass.
Kjerstad walked in the sixth last night and drove a first-pitch cutter to right-center field for an RBI double in the ninth for his first multi-hit game since May 17.
“We’ve been playing really good baseball past few games, carrying it over to this road trip, which has been awesome,” he said afterward. “For me to be able to contribute and starting to take some better ABs, getting some hits out there, definitely haven’t been performing the way I know I’m capable of or the way I want to starting the season, and that’s tough. Been working through it, been doing a lot of work in the cage with our coaches, making adjustments, and hopefully, those are kind of starting to show up.
“Confidence is a big part of the game and not having as much success as you’d like, it’s definitely tough at times to keep it at the highest levels. But that’s part of the game is to keep your confidence even when you’re not at your best, and when you’re at your best, keeping the confidence level headed at the same time.”
Interim manager Tony Mansolino keeps offering his support, as former manager Brandon Hyde did, and let the hitting coaches do their work with him.
“I think we just try to deemphasize what he’s gone through right now,” Mansolino said earlier in the day. “I think struggling for two months … We saw Gunnar (Henderson) do it a couple years ago. I think it was in ’23, had a bad April and May. So we’ve seen this. I think this is kind of expected. It stinks when you’re going through it. It hurts, it’s hard to watch. But I think more, just make him realize it’s just kind of part of the game and keep throwing him out there.
“The other day, had some nice at-bats. He lined out a couple times, I think it was on Saturday. Hit some balls hard. He hooked a ball down the corner on Sunday. And there was a nice play he made in the corner, I think it was on Sunday, so you see some signs of progress, and I think just try to stay patient and let him know and realize that we understand, and we kind of expect young players to go through this at times.”
* Ryan O’Hearn singled twice and drove in a run, but he also walked in the third inning.
That walk extended the Orioles’ streak to 137 games with at least one since July 2, 2024 - the longest active streak in the majors.
* Tomoyuki Sugano has walked two batters or fewer in each of his first 12 starts, upholding his reputation in Japan as a control artist.
That’s the third-longest career-opening streak by an Orioles starter in franchise history behind Josh Towers (23 games in 2001-02) and Tyler Wells (13 games in 2022).
Sugano also is the first Orioles rookie since Grayson Rodriguez in 2023 with six or more quality starts in his first major league season.
* Ryan O'Hearn, Gunnar Henderson and Jackson Holliday are the Orioles’ top three leaders in hits, and Mullins, O'Hearn, Henderson and Holliday are the leaders in home runs.
What do they have in common besides their team? They bat from the left side.
Why does this matter? There have been 15 previous seasons in major league history when a team had left-handers hold the top three spots in both categories, most recently the Reds in 2013, per STATS.
The Browns did it once in 1932 before moving to Baltimore in 1954.
* Jorge Mateo has stolen 99 bases in five seasons with the Orioles.
That total ranks fifth in club history over the first five season after Luis Aparicio with 166 from 1963-67, Corey Patterson with 103 (in three seasons) from 2006-10, Brady Anderson with 102 from 1988-1992, and Brian Roberts with 100 from 2001-05.
Mateo has five games with multiple stolen bases this season, tied with the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong for most in the majors.
* The Orioles swept their three-game series against the White Sox despite not scoring more than four runs in any game.
Per STATS, this was the first time that the Orioles had a three-game sweep without tallying more than four runs in a game since April 4-7, 2016 against the Twins at Camden Yards.
