Orioles to Activate Jordan Westburg From IL Ahead of Series Opener Versus Tigers
Reinforcements are on the way for the Baltimore Orioles.
After losing two of three to the Athletics over the weekend, the O’s are set to return to Camden Yards for a six-game homestand, beginning with Tuesday’s series opener against the Detroit Tigers. That’s when they’re expected to have a key bat return to the lineup, with infielder Jordan Westburg slated to be activated from the injured list.
The 2024 All-Star has been on the 10-day IL due to a left hamstring strain since April 27. He was originally supposed to begin a rehab assignment in mid-May, but it was delayed after he suffered a setback in his recovery.
Instead, Westburg set out on a Triple-A rehab assignment on May 29, playing eight games with Norfolk and going 11-for-28 (.393) with four doubles, two home runs and five RBIs. He spent six of those contests in the field, logging four starts at third base and two at second.
Others likely to return during Baltimore’s upcoming homestand include outfielders Cedric Mullins (right hamstring strain) and Tyler O’Neill (left shoulder impingement) and backup catcher Gary Sánchez (right wrist inflammation) – the last two joined Westburg on Triple-A rehab assignments over the weekend.
“There’s some solutions coming in the pipeline that’s going to help us out a lot, and we’re aware of that,” interim manager Tony Mansolino told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jake Rill. “There’s some pretty good players that are on the way, and I think we’ll see a few here soon.”
A healthy Jordan Westburg should help an Orioles squad that, prior to facing the A’s, had begun to turn things around after sweeping consecutive series against the White Sox and Mariners.
During last season’s breakout, the 26-year-old impressed to a .264/.312/.481 slash line while blasting a career-high 18 home runs and driving in 63 over 107 games. He also accounted for a 125 wRC+ (100 league average), sitting third among Baltimore hitters behind Anthony Santander (129) and Gunnar Henderson (155).
While Westburg enjoyed a blazing start to this season, going 9-for-24 (.375) with three home runs and four RBIs across the first six games of the campaign, he had been struggling mightily for several weeks before hitting the IL.
Over his last 17 games, the right-handed-hitting infielder had only gone deep once while slashing .162/.197/.265 and driving in just a pair of runs. His plate discipline had also become worrisome, as he struck out 18 times and only earned two walks in that span.
Baltimore has relied heavily on Ramón Urías at the hot corner in Westburg’s absence thus far. While it’s kept them afloat defensively, they’ve received little offensive production, as he’s hit .274/.333/.356 with two home runs, 19 RBIs and a 98 wRC+ in 43 games.
The return of Westburg should certainly help in that regard, particularly versus left-handed pitching, which the O’s lineup has yet to find much success against in 2025, as they rank 29th in the majors in wRC+ (63).
At this point, with the team sitting last in the AL East and their playoff odds down to just 3.2 percent per FanGraphs entering Monday’s slate, they’ll need all the help they can get to stave off becoming sellers less than two months away from the July 31 trade deadline.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: David. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.