Heston Kjerstad gives Orioles yet another injury scare on Saturday night

How does the song go - the injuries start coming and they don't stop coming - something like that. The Orioles are getting crushed by the injury bug at the moment, and outfielder Heston Kjerstad has been deemed next on the list.

On Saturday afternoon, Kjerstad was hit by a pitch in the first inning by Reds' starter Hunter Greene. It was Greene's second HBP of the inning and the Orioles would eventually chase him from the game after scoring 5 runs in the first 3 innings.

Kjerstad stayed in the game initially, taking first base after the HBP and playing in left field during the top of the second inning. He didn't come back out for the top of the third, however. According to manager Brandon Hyde, Kjerstad's elbow was just sore and the O's decided to give him the rest of the night off in order to manage the pain.

On the surface, bringing in Ramón Laureano worked out for the O's. Laureano went 2-4 with two homers and helped the Orioles capture a 9-5 victory. However, losing Kjerstad is a blow for the Orioles' offense.

Orioles' Heston Kjerstad lifted from Saturday's game after being hit by pitch in the elbow

With any luck, the left handed slugger won't need to miss more than a game or two. The Orioles reported a similar day-to-day issue with right fielder Tyler O'Neill earlier this week, and O'Neill was back in the lineup in short order.

Given that Kjerstad was forced out of the game, it's not sure how severe the issue is. It's possible that he suffered a bone bruise and will be forced to miss a short stretch, and it's also possible that he was just having some lingering soreness after being plunked by a 100 mph fastball.

Thankfully, the Orioles already had Kjerstad taken for x-rays, which came back negative. But while there aren't any broken bones in there, that doesn't mean that Kjerstad will be available for Sunday's finale against the Reds.

Kjerstad has been a bit of a mixed bag thus far, hitting .261/.286/.500 with 3 homers, 12 RBI, and serviceable defense in the outfield. He's also posted a miniscule 2.0% walk rate and he's still striking out nearly 25% of the time. The lefty is assumed to be an important part of the Orioles' future but even still, Brandon Hyde has been using him mostly in a platoon role in the first few weeks.

The Reds' starter for Sunday's matchup is still TBD. Lefty Nick Lodolo was placed on the paternity list on Friday and the Reds will have to fill his spot in the rotation. As they're already in Baltimore, it's possible that they run with a bullpen game and keep Carson Spiers up in the bullpen until Lodolo returns next week. If that's the case and Kjerstad is still feeling some soreness in the morning, Hyde might choose to roll with Laureano again. The O's have Monday off, which would give Kjerstad an extra day to get back to 100% before getting back into the lineup for Tuesday's matchup against Washington.