#8 2020 Prospect: Jordan Westburg - SS/3B

[Tony-OH]

https://www.orioleshangout.com/2020/10/15/8-2020-prospect-jordan-westburg-ss-3b/

[ChosenOne21]

Kind of surprised to see Westburg here, especially with a lukewarm write-up. I guess I'll have to wait and see what you say about Diaz, who I thought would be here

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, ChosenOne21 said:

Kind of surprised to see Westburg here, especially with a lukewarm write-up. I guess I'll have to wait and see what you say about Diaz, who I thought would be here

It's all about the Benjamins. 

[Sports Guy]

It was said of Westburg that people believe his talent far exceeded what he accomplished.  
 

Thats always a risky profile to me but it’s also a profile that could hit big relative to his draft position.

[hoosiers]

There was a LOT more forecasting (and some might say guessing) in the 2020 draft than usual given the limited HS and college seasons.

I fully expect there will be prospects taken in the third and fourth rounds who are immediately considered better than some first and second rounders.  

IMO, there is big offensive upside to Westburg, but the bat would, of course, best profile at middle infield.  

I think this is an appropriate landing spot for Westburg considering his draft status and upside, but there is also considerable downside - as in Westburg simply not being as good as draft experts thought because of limited junior year views.

[weams]

1 hour ago, Tony-OH said:

https://www.orioleshangout.com/2020/10/15/8-2020-prospect-jordan-westburg-ss-3b/

Thanks

[Frobby]

46 minutes ago, ChosenOne21 said:

Kind of surprised to see Westburg here, especially with a lukewarm write-up. I guess I'll have to wait and see what you say about Diaz, who I thought would be here

 

40 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

It's clear he is here on draft position alone. Personally, I would have Diaz, Kremer, and Akin all ahead of him at this point. 

Me too.   That write-up did nothing to make me think Westburg deserves to be this high at this stage.   But, hopefully he’ll prove us wrong.  

[wildcard]

Seems to be based on what Elias and staff think.

[hoosiers]

Tony admitted to seeing limited video and Westburg wasn't at the alternate site.  I expect Tony thought about the upside of the guys 1-7 and saw separation between those seven and the ones that followed and thought this was a good spot to put an end of first round guy.  I would agree.

A refresher - MLB.com had Westburg as the 37th prospect in the 2020 draft and we took him with the 30th overall pick.  MLB.com's draft profile includes the following:  

Westburg has a compact right-handed swing and possesses the bat speed and strength to provide 20 or more homers on an annual basis. He lacks consistency at the plate because he has a very aggressive, pull-happy approach and sometimes struggles with pitch recognition and managing the strike zone. After he failed to make the U.S. collegiate national team last summer, he settled down nicely in the Cape Cod League and was one of the circuit's more productive hitters.

Westburg has solid speed and arm strength to match, giving him a chance to stick at shortstop at the next level. He's big for the position at 6-foot-3 and if he adds more strength to his frame, he could slow down and necessitate a move to third base. With his power potential, he still could profile offensively at the hot corner.

[Tony-OH]

Here's my thinking here. We don't have a ton of stuff to go on but his draft position and the amount of bonus he got along with his abbreviated junior year.

This is one of those situations where if he comes through on his promise, he's an everyday SS or 3B. Apparently the tools are there and I'm going to give Elias and company the benefit of the doubt at this point.

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, RZNJ said:

It's clear he is here on draft position alone. Personally, I would have Diaz, Kremer, and Akin all ahead of him at this point. 

I tend to agree here.  My top 10 would have looked like this:

AR, GRod, Kjerstad, Hall, Mountcastle, Henderson, Kremer, Baumann, Diaz and Akin.  Westburg would be 11 for me.

Basically the same names, just a different order.  Judging by how Tony has talked about these guys, I don’t think he would find much fault in that order.  
 

Personally, I feel there is a separation from  the top 6 I have and the rest and I feel that 7-15 or so could be chosen out of a hat and that the order could be justified.

[ScGO's]

Westburg is such a wildcard.  I wasn't impressed with what I saw in the films on him.  Yet, he's a very good athlete with a good frame who is toolsy.  If he has a growth mindset and is willing to make adjustments, he can churn that raw power into mlb productivity.  I just don't know if he ends up hitting on the big club.  Might be a AAAA type one day, but I hope he blossoms.  If he's 8, I feel pretty good about a system that still has Diaz, Harvey, Lowther, Akin, Kremer, McKenna, Hall, Stowers, Bradish, Rom, etc who could have all made sense in the 8 spot.

[Sports Guy]

3 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

Sure. After reading the writeup on Henderson at Bowie being one of the better hitters there after he settled with a chance to stay at SS, I think you could make a csae for him at #2 or #3.  It depends on how much weight you want to give to the Bowie camp, how much to prior minor league performance,  scouting reports, and draft pedigree.  

Yep.  I actually think Henderson could be a key guy in terms of seeing if this system vaults into the top 5 in 2021, although graduations to the majors could effect that as well

[LookinUp]

I think it's fair to assume that some of our best future prospect talent (2 recent drafts, maybe int'l) will be hidden in the ratings this year just because they're hidden on the field. I'm much more interested in the potential than their rank order. That's kinda always true, but much moreso this year. It's a blind spot, even within the org to some extent, I'd guess.

[NCRaven]

I can see why Tony said that 5-7 could be in any order and not 5-8.  Appears to be a big drop off from Baumann to Westburg.  This would be my first disagree, but from here down it’s all “who knows?”