Jordan Westburg’s Injury Tests Baltimore’s Infield Depth

For the second time since the opening of spring training, the Baltimore Orioles lost one of their starting infielders to injury. On Friday, Baltimore announced that third baseman Jordan Westburg would miss significant time due to a partially torn UCL in his throwing elbow. Westburg received a platelet-rich plasma injection, commonly used for soft tissue and joint injuries, and will be out at least until the end of April, according to team president Mike Elias.

Jordan Westburg has a partial UCL tear in his right elbow and will be getting a PRP injection today, per Orioles POBO/GM Mike Elias.

Westburg will be out for all of April. Timeline TBD after that.

— Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) February 20, 2026

While there’s never an ideal time for an injury, the Orioles were already without second baseman Jackson Holliday, out with a broken hamate bone in his right hand. That puts half of their infield out of commission for Opening Day. Before Holliday and Westburg went down, there had been some turnover among the role players in Baltimore’s infield, adding to the uncertainty of what these injuries will mean for the team this spring and beyond.

Ramón Urías and Jorge Mateo were fixtures for the last several years, both having extended stints as starters as the young Orioles infielders progressed through the minors. Mateo had a 2.8 WAR as the starting shortstop in 2022 — before yielding the job to Gunnar Henderson the following season. Meanwhile, also in 2022, Urías won a Gold Glove at third base, and he has filled in at third during Westburg’s prior injuries. Both saw their use decline in 2025, with Mateo struggling to hit and then having his season ruined by elbow and hamstring injuries, while Urías batted just .241/.292/.384, for a career-worst 87 wRC+. Urías signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Cardinals on Saturday, and Mateo joined the Braves on a one-year contract worth $1 million last month. Terrin Vavra, who made cameo appearances for the O’s in a utility role, is also gone, a free agent after being designated for assignment last season; he’s now playing for Czechia in this year’s World Baseball Classic.

So the Orioles have had to turn to new additions to fill the longtime roles of Urías and Mateo. The first is Jeremiah Jackson, a former second-rounder for the Angels who signed with the O’s as a minor league free agent before last season. After putting up a combined .313/.343/.537 line at Double-A and Triple-A, Jackson earned a look in the majors on merit. By the time he debuted on August 1, Baltimore’s season was all but over and Urías had been traded Houston, allowing Jackson to get an extended big league audition. He comfortably exceeded expectations, hitting .276/.328/.447 while starting in right field and third base down the stretch. None of the projection systems envision Jackson repeating his wRC+ of 117 with the Orioles, but they all peg him as a highly competent role player with just enough oomph to be an adequate starter. ZiPS projects 1.6 WAR for him given 514 plate appearances, and Steamer/600 has him at 1.5 WAR in 600 plate appearances. OOPSY feels similarly, though THE BAT is not quite as bullish.

What’s bad timing for Westburg and Holliday may be good timing for Blaze Alexander, acquired by the Orioles for three prospects a few weeks ago. Alexander put up a 99 wRC+ for the Diamondbacks in 2025 while getting starts at second and third base, shortstop, and in center field. ZiPS gave him an even stronger projection than Jackson, with 2.1 WAR over 459 projected plate appearances. Alexander’s biggest problem in Arizona was a lack of opportunity, as few mortals are going to grab a full-time middle infield job on a team that employs both Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte. When push comes to shove, it was unlikely that Arizona would’ve prioritized getting Alexander playing time over Jordan Lawlar or, in the medium term, Tommy Troy.

Westburg’s injury also opens up an opportunity at third base for Coby Mayo, who is coming off a disastrous 2025 campaign. Getting his first extended shot in the majors, Mayo hit just .217/.299/.388. That would’ve been fine if he were projected to be a glove-first utilityman, but Mayo was a 50-FV prospect whose carrying tool was his 70-grade raw power. He ranked 52nd overall on our 2025 Top 100 Prospects list, with his defense — and doubts about whether he could handle third base in the majors — curbing his projected value. Also troubling was Mayo’s inability to hit in the minors; his 2024 Triple-A wRC+ of 138 Wile E. Coyote’d off the cliff to a 103 last year. He had too much playing time to appear on the 2026 prospects lists, but if I had included him in the ZiPS Top 100, he would have plummeted from 11th entering last year to no. 146 after just a single season. All that being said, Mayo is only 24, so if there’s a comeback story in him, this would be the Inspirational Sports Movie© time to find it.

Ideally, the O’s would be quite happy with an infield of Pete Alonso at first, Holliday at second, Henderson at short, and Westburg at third, but until Westburg shows he can stay healthy for a full season, and Holliday either improves against lefties or cleans up his defense, backup infielders remain vital to this team.

From an overall team perspective, the consequences of the Westburg and Holliday injuries do not appear dire to the projections. ZiPS had already factored in Westburg’s injury risk into Baltimore’s projections, and it was being cautious in regards to a possible Holliday breakout, so the team is now projected to lose less than a win from its pre-injury forecast. That’s assuming these injuries don’t drag out longer than expected, which, of course, injuries are wont to do, but that’s a problem for Future Dan to worry about.

Losing Westburg for more than a month is an unwelcome sight, but things could be much worse for the Orioles. If, instead, a member of their starting rotation went down with a UCL injury, this would be a completely different story.