Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg has been slowed by an oblique injury in camp and was already expected to miss the first few games of exhibition play as a result. However, it appears there’s greater concern than just a mild oblique strain. Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner reports that Westburg was sent for imaging on his elbow. The results have not yet been disclosed. O’s podcaster Brooks Rothschild suggested yesterday that Westburg could miss significant time due to an elbow issue.
Asked today whether Westburg was dealing with an elbow issue in addition to that oblique injury, manager Craig Albernaz told reporters (via MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko): “Right now, he’s physically unable to participate. So he’s getting evaluated by a medical team and also outside people to make sure we have a plan in place and see what’s going on with Jordan and get him going.”
Baltimore’s infield is already banged up. Second baseman Jackson Holliday suffered a hamate fracture recently and is expected to open the season on the injured list. Westburg has typically been Baltimore’s third baseman but has plenty of experience at second base and could have filled in for Holliday while Coby Mayo, Blaze Alexander or Jeremiah Jackson handled the hot corner. Now, it seems there’s a chance Westburg will instead join Holliday on the injured list.
Since his 2023 MLB debut, the now-27-year-old Westburg has been a consistently productive, well-rounded player when healthy. The “when healthy” caveat has proven critical, however. Westburg has never topped 107 games or 447 plate appearances in the majors. Since his initial call to the big leagues, he’s seen IL time for a broken hand, a pair of hamstring strains and an ankle sprain. Westburg carries a .264/.312/.456 batting line in 1027 major league plate appearances, but he’s played in only 341 games (majors and minors combined) across the past three seasons.
Baltimore has been giving former top prospect Coby Mayo plenty of reps at third base during spring training and will presumably continue to do so. Mayo has said that the focus of his early spring work is his defense at the hot corner. He was drafted as a third baseman, but scouts have long questioned whether he can handle the position, and the O’s have given him the majority of his major league work at first base. However, between the Pete Alonso signing and injuries elsewhere in the infield, it’s only logical to get Mayo some more work at third base to see if he can help out there on at least a semi-regular basis.
Mayo’s name was bandied about the rumor mill throughout the winter. Even as recently as this weekend, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic suggested that Baltimore has continued to discuss the 24-year-old in potential trade scenarios. If there’s now concern surrounding Westburg’s availability, one would imagine that will lessen any such talks (unless, speculatively speaking, Mayo is shipped out for a more established veteran infielder).
If Westburg is sidelined for any significant period of time, there are possibilities outside the organization. Old friends Ramón Urías, Jose Iglesias and Emmanuel Rivera remain unsigned, as do veteran utilitymen Jon Berti and Luis Urías (Ramón’s younger brother). None of those players could be reasonably expected to match the offense of a healthy Westburg, but any of the three would deepen the infield mix and — specifically for Urias and Berti — provide a fair bit of defensive versatility. Myriad trade possibilities abound, even beyond the obvious names still on the market. The aforementioned Alexander certainly wasn’t a frequently discussed trade candidate when the O’s sent Kade Strowd and a pair of prospects to Arizona to pry him loose.
That swap looked a bit surprising at the time but will now pay considerable dividends. Alexander can handle either second base or third base. He hit .230/.323/.383 in 74 games last year but closed out the season on a more impressive .239/.338/.415 stretch following the D-backs’ trade of Eugenio Suárez, at which point Alexander took over as the primary third baseman.