After nearly a full season of Triple-A at-bats for Jordan Westburg, the Orioles are calling up the infield prospect, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told The Baltimore Banner.
The 24-year-old Westburg is the 34th-best prospect in baseball, according to MLB Pipeline, and he has continued to rake in the minor leagues with the Norfolk Tides. In two partial seasons with Norfolk, Westburg has combined for 36 home runs. This season, in 67 games, he has clubbed 18 long balls and holds a .295 batting average with a .939 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
Westburg ranks as Baltimore’s third overall prospect, behind shortstop Jackson Holliday and outfielder Colton Cowser. Westburg can play all over the infield, although his primary position is shortstop. With the Tides, he also played six games in corner outfield spots, showing his versatility.
The Mississippi State product has risen rapidly after his first-round selection in 2020.
Westburg climbed three minor league levels in 2021 and reached Triple-A by the midway point of 2022. That year, in his first taste of the highest level of the minors, Westburg hit .273 for the Tides. He has only improved this season.
He’s done it through a meticulous approach to hitting. His pregame hitting routine is the same each day, starting with a short bat to practice opposite-field hitting before continuing with plyo balls — heavy, sand-filled balls that show clearly whether he makes solid contact.
“No matter what happens, or what’s going on around you, you can kind of have something to fall back on,” Westburg said early this month. “I wanted to build something that kind of checks all the boxes I need to feel like I’m locked and ready in the box and my swing is working the right way.”
Westburg’s arrival in Baltimore comes at a time the Cincinnati Reds and 21-year-old phenom Elly De La Cruz are arriving at Camden Yards for a three-game series. Westburg is expected to be in the lineup for Monday’s series opener.
There is already a crowded infield in Baltimore, with Gunnar Henderson, Ramón Urías, Adam Frazier, Joey Ortiz and Jorge Mateo vying for playing time. For Westburg to be added, there will need to be a corresponding move to open a space on the major league roster and the 40-man roster.
“You talk about character, that takes some mental toughness to be able to grind through,” Norfolk manager Buck Britton said early this month. “To just come out and put up the numbers he’s putting up right now, knowing that he’s done probably enough to get a shot and there’s no opportunity, it’s a testament to the makeup of this kid.”
Westburg’s bat is a well-timed reinforcement, especially as Mateo struggles.
Mateo hit a double and walked in Sunday’s win against the Seattle Mariners — and showed his speed to score on both trips — but in his previous 43 games entering Sunday, Mateo had reverted to the offensive inefficiencies that have beleaguered him throughout his career, the ones that prevent a dynamic player from reaching the next level. He hasn’t hit a home run since April 30. He’s managed nine RBIs. He’s hitting .153 with a .366 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
Frazier is hitting .227 with a .674 OPS, although manager Brandon Hyde has often praised the professional at-bats the fellow Mississippi State player produces. Henderson, still just 21, overcame early-season struggles to raise his average to .244 with an .806 OPS. Although Ortiz has shown glimpses, he’s played in only four games this June.
In early May, executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said Westburg was “an active topic of conversation, dating back even into last year.”
“Certainly, he’s somebody that we’re still monitoring and discussing and paying very close attention to on a nightly basis,” Elias continued. “And I think, right now, with the opponents we’ve got here coming up, we’re going with this group, but we’ll keep an eye on all those guys, him included.”
Over the last two months, Westburg has continued hitting, and it finally pushed Baltimore into promoting him to the majors.
ESPN first reported the news.
