After having the 2025 season derailed largely due to injuries, the news that came out of Sarasota last Friday was the last thing Birdland wanted to hear: Jordan Westburg is set to miss the first month with a partial UCL tear that could end up costing him the whole season.
As our Mark Brown wrote about in the wake of the news, Westburg is opting for platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections to try to stave off full-blown Tommy John surgery. It’s the approach Kyle Bradish took two years ago, before ultimately needing UCL reconstruction after eight starts. For Westburg, the long-term downside is much less severe, as barring any setback, he’d be ready to go for Spring Training 2027 either way.
And yet, the strength of this Orioles team—the offense—feels like it becomes a lot less solid if the PRP injections don’t work and Westburg misses all of 2026. After all, it is Baltimore’s bats that are supposed to carry this team toward contention. Just last month, a composite ranking of all offensive projections had the Orioles ranked second behind the Dodgers in team WRC+. While many may see AL East Rivals Toronto and New York as the teams to beat in the American League, the Orioles are supposed to lead the way when it comes to putting up runs.
While losing Westburg would not completely derail those dreams, his loss to the offense might be just enough to put the Orioles behind the rest of the AL’s playoff contenders. Since his debut in June of the 2023 season, Westburg has been a do-everything infielder for the O’s. Through the first three seasons of his career, Westy’s per 162 game averages have him as an 80+ runs, 150+ hits, 30+ doubles, 20+ HR and 75+ RBI hitter while slashing .264/.312/.456. He also provides plus defense at both third and second, while leading all O’s regulars with a max sprint speed of 29 ft/sec (tied for best in the MLB among starting 3B).
After already having to deal with the likelihood that Jackson Holliday misses the start of the season, the O’s now must cover for both Holliday and Westburg missing Opening Day and Westy being a doubt for the entire season. The front office brought in Blaze Alexander from the Diamondbacks to give Baltimore’s infield depth a boost and replace Jorge Mateo’s role on the roster. Now, Alexander will not only be in the starting lineup come March 26th, but may be a regular starter for all of 2026.
Alexander can replace Westburg’s defense and speed on the base paths, but replacing his impact in the lineup will likely fall to other Orioles. In 135 games in Arizona, the 24-year-old slashed .237/.322/.366 while posting a concering 30% K rate. But with middle infield depth already a concern before Westburg’s diagnosis, figuring out who might step up to fill the void is tricky.
The first chance will fall to Holliday. After having his stitches from the surgery on his broken hand removed yesterday, the former No.1 overall pick should resume baseball activities this week and may end up on a similar timeline to Gunnar Henderson last year. Henderson missed the first seven games of the 2025 season after picking up a rib injury during Spring Training.
Assuming Holliday is fully back sometime in April after a minor league rehab assignment, Baltimore will need him to take another leap if he wants to help replace Westburg. We saw stretches last year when Holliday looked like the former top prospect in all of baseball. Across May, June and July, the Orioles’ 2B .265/.305/.427 with 14 doubles, 12 HRs and eight stolen bases. If the O’s can get that Holliday over a full season, he’d give the O’s the type of production they’re missing from Westburg.
Then there’s the conundrum that is Coby Mayo. New manager Craig Albernaz seems committed to giving Mayo a real shot at being an MLB 3B. Mayo started at third in two of the Orioles’ first four Spring Training games after the previous coaching staff pegged him as primarily a 1B. Should Mayo prove he can handle 3B defensively, he profiles as a potential Eugenio Suárez/Troy Glaus type bat at the hot corner. After slashing .301/.393/.548 with eight home runs last September, Mayo showed us just enough to believe he can make good on his immense raw power against Major League pitching.
If Holliday and Mayo can take leaps on par with their considerable talent, then this offense can not only survive the loss of Westburg, but it can still chase the title of best lineup in the AL. However, those are big “if’s.” And should those leaps not come to fruition, the depth of the Orioles’ lineup starts to look shaky.
The top of this order should be great, Westburg or no. The combination of Henderson, Pete Alonso, Taylor Ward and a healthy Adley Rutschman can go toe-to-toe with any other order in baseball. However, a healthy Westburg would provide protection to whoever slotted in the cleanup role while also serving as a secondary leadoff hitter in front of the young/inconsistent bottom half of the Orioles’ order.
If the conservative approach to his UCL injury ultimately gives way to season-ending surgery for Westburg, the No. 5 spot in the lineup will fall to Tyler O’Neill or whichever one of Holliday, Mayo or Samuel Basallo can distinguish himself. And while all of those players have the tools necessary to be a major component in the Orioles’ offensive success, O’Neill’s injury history and the youthful trio’s lack of a proven track record provide reason for concern.
The steps the Orioles took to fortify their offense were supposed to make this batting order the pillar of the Orioles’ return to contention in 2026. And while that still could playout, the Westburg injury news puts Baltimore in an uneasy but familiar position: hoping for a breakout from a former top prospect with no real backup plan if that doesn’t happen.