Heston Kjerstad makes his 2024 debut in an absolutely beautiful Orioles lineup.
The Orioles, coming off a tense victory in the opener of their three-game series in Los Angeles, play another late game tonight at 9:38 PM Eastern. I fully understand any east coast fan who doesn’t wish to stay up until the wee hours to watch the game.
But before you decide to go to bed early, let me just show you the lineup the Orioles are running out there today, with the newly promoted Heston Kjerstad in tow:
SS Gunnar Henderson
C Adley Rutschman
1B Ryan O’Hearn
DH Anthony Santander
CF Cedric Mullins
LF Colton Cowser
3B Jordan Westburg
RF Heston Kjerstad
2B Jackson Holliday
(wiping away a tear) It’s…it’s glorious. Hang it in the Louvre. This is the platonic ideal of an Orioles lineup, or really any major league lineup.
I mean, look at this beautiful batting order. Other than recent draftees Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Dylan Beavers, this lineup includes every first-round pick of the Mike Elias era: Adley Rutschman (2019), Kjerstad and Jordan Westburg (2020), Colton Cowser (2021), and Jackson Holliday (2022). Add in starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez (2018) and you’ve got five straight years of Orioles first rounders starting today, plus 2019 second-rounder Gunnar Henderson.
Eight of the 10 starting Orioles were drafted and developed by the O’s, and only O’Hearn has ever played in the majors for another team. If Ryan Mountcastle (also a first rounder, in 2015) were starting instead of O’Hearn, you’d have an entire lineup of players who have only played for the Birds. When’s the last time any MLB team fielded an entire lineup of homegrown players? I’d imagine it’s exceptionally rare. I think it’s safe to say the Elias regime has drafted well, huh? (And a hat tip to Dan Duquette for selecting Rodriguez in his final draft with the Orioles.)
Now that I’ve said all that, of course, watch the Orioles get dominated tonight by Griffin Canning and his 8.05 ERA. This is definitely reverse lock territory. But even if things don’t go the Orioles’ way tonight, this lineup is going to be a heck of a lot of fun to watch for the next few days, or weeks. Or years.