Jordan Westburg proved to be a more important piece than many thought.
After a solid rookie campaign in 2023, Jordan Westburg looked like he could be a valuable contributor to the Orioles. But it wasn’t clear until this year that he might just be the glue that holds this team together. He took a step forward with his bat and proved himself a good defender at both second and third base. He was voted to his first All-Star Game and, when he was lost to injury in the second half, he was sorely missed.
Westburg played quiet baseball, operating as a foil to the goofball personality of his buddy Colton Cowser. But he spent most of his season being the surprising answer to the question, “Who do you want at the plate with the game on the line?”
Like most of the Orioles team, Westburg broke out of the gate. He OPS’d .880 and hit five home runs in the first month of the season. The first big moment of the season I remember with Westburg came on April 1 against the Royals. After Craig Kimbrel blew a one-run save in the top of the ninth inning, Westburg came to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. Cedric Mullins was on first base after a single and Westburg went to the opposite field for his first home run of the season. It was the first of 18 home runs he hit in the season.
It was his only hit in the game and just the start of Westburg’s uncanny ability to hit in the clutch. With runners on base over the course of the season, Westburg OPS’d .925. In Baseball Reference’s “late and close” stat, he was even better, going 21-for-49 with .776 slugging. Like I said, who you want up with the game on the line.
After his blistering April, Westburg continued with a strong performance over the next few months. He impressively made it to the end of July with a slugging percentage of .500. But in June and July he saw his drops and, thus, his OBP, drop. He was still slugging enough to keep things from looking dire, but it was a definite dip at a time when the team as a whole was struggling.
Westburg’s first-half success was rewarded in mid-July when he was named to his first All-Star team. Westburg missed the original selection in what felt like a major snub, but was named as a replacement for the injured Rafael Devers. Westburg didn’t have much impact in the American League’s win, but I feel confident it won’t be his last chance.
As the Orioles struggled to tread water at the end of July, they suffered a huge blow on the last day of the month. With two runners on base against the Blue Jays, Westburg was hit by a pitch in the hand. In the moment, it loaded the bases to set up Jackson Holliday’s first home run, a grand slam.
But Westburg came out of the game after the inning and not long after we learned that his hand was broken and he was headed to the injured list. It was a devastating loss for the team, a player who had been so steady the entire year. And it came at a time when the Orioles really needed offensive power.
Westburg missed all of August and most of September and the Orioles suffered for it. With him on the shelf, the Orioles continued their subpar late summer. After spending every day of July in first place, they fell behind the Yankees for good on August 21st. With Westburg out of the lineup, the Orioles turned Jackson Holliday to play second base every day. It was a downgrade. And after the loss of Ramón Urías in addition to Westburg, the Orioles also had to rely on Emmanuel Rivera at third base.
For a while it looked like Westburg might miss the rest of the season, but he returned to the team on September 22nd. In immediate impact was felt when he picked up four hits in his first three games back. But he, like the rest of the Orioles, were unable to make any difference offensively in their playoff sweep at the hands of the Royals.
There is no way to quantify exactly how much the Orioles missed Westburg in his nearly two-month absence, but anyone could see that they hurt without him.
With just under a year of service time, Westburg should be a solid contributor to the Orioles for years to come. He won’t be a free agent until 2030, and while he is not a potential superstars like his teammates Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, and Jackson Holliday, he is absolutely the kind of player who can support a good baseball team through a period of success.
Even with his disappointing injury, Westburg took a nice leap from 2023 to 2024. I am looking forward to to seeing what he can do with a full, hopefully healthy, season in 2025.
Previous 2024 player reviews: Keegan Akin, Cionel Pérez, Cole Irvin, Ryan O’Hearn, Craig Kimbrel, Cade Povich, midseason position player acquisitions, Jackson Holliday, injured starting pitchers, James McCann, midseason pitching acquisitions, Jorge Mateo, Yennier Cano, Dean Kremer, Albert Suárez, Ryan Mountcastle, Anthony Santander, Jacob Webb, Grayson Rodriguez, Ramón Urías, Danny Coulombe, Adley Rutschman
Tomorrow: Zach Eflin