Jordan Westburg 2022

[Ripken]

Is the consensus here that he likely ends up at 3B?

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, ChuckS said:

I could be wrong about this but I recall we had a bunch of promotions starting around mid-May of last year. 

I went through this in another thread.  A few guys (including Westburg) got promoted around game 19-20, and another group around game 35-36.   But last year was slightly different since there were no games in 2020 and the O’s were very conservative with their initial placement.  I don’t know if anyone will move quite as quickly as 19-20 games this year.  35-36 seems more likely.  

[ChuckS]

11 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I went through this in another thread.  A few guys (including Westburg) got promoted around game 19-20, and another group around game 35-36.   But last year was slightly different since there were no games in 2020 and the O’s were very conservative with their initial placement.  I don’t know if anyone will move quite as quickly as 19-20 games this year.  35-36 seems more likely.  

We've also had ultra conservative placements the last several years, with some advanced college guys (like Westburg) starting in Delmarva.   So the quick promotions after showing a short period of dominance made sense.

I agree that they will want to see a bigger sample size at Double A.  Mid-May seems reasonable but I can see June too, especially if Elias has already made up his mind that none of the Double A guys will play in Baltimore this year regardless of performance. 

[OriolesMagic83]

If Westburg keeps hitting like this for another month, he should get the Machado treatment.  The O's have a black hole in Gutierrez at 3B.  Anything Westburg would give the O's would be a bonus.  He seems like he could get on base and drive the ball.  He doesn't even have to hit well, just better than Gutierrez. 

[Frobby]

18 minutes ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

If Westburg keeps hitting like this for another month, he should get the Machado treatment.  The O's have a black hole in Gutierrez at 3B.  Anything Westburg would give the O's would be a bonus.  He seems like he could get on base and drive the ball.  He doesn't even have to hit well, just better than Gutierrez. 

Machado never would have been called up if we weren’t a contending team at the time.   I doubt the O’s will have Westburg skip AAA under these curcumstances.   If he goes to AAA and rakes there, I’d say it’s remotely possible he’d get called up in August.   

[glenn__davis]

Yeah, I think half a season at AA, half a season at AAA, and if he does well, start in AAA next year to come back from whatever injury he acquires during ST so he can start in BAL around early May.

[Just Regular]

I'm hoping for the Austin Hays-Ryan Mountcastle official 129 at-bats.

#Number1FarmRankingStill!

[jamalshw]

1 hour ago, OriolesMagic83 said:

If Westburg keeps hitting like this for another month, he should get the Machado treatment.  The O's have a black hole in Gutierrez at 3B.  Anything Westburg would give the O's would be a bonus.  He seems like he could get on base and drive the ball.  He doesn't even have to hit well, just better than Gutierrez. 

I don't see this happening given where the Orioles are in the rebuild but given the nice starts at AAA for Jones, Martin and Vavra, I wonder how much longer they go with Guiterrez, Owings, and Odor before one or more of the that trio gets a promotion. It doesn't answer the question at 3B and likely means more 3B for Urias who I don't like there, but does add an extra infielder with a bit more upside. Then, in turn, Westburg could get the promotion to AAA. Elias doesn't seem like one to skip a level, particularly given the wins and losses don't mean much this year. But if Westburg is in AAA by mid-May I think that greatly increases the chances we see him in Baltimore after the trade deadline. 

[Sports Guy]

After a blistering start, Westburg has been terrible lately.  BA is below 200 and Gus OPS is down to 754.

[RZNJ]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

After a blistering start, Westburg has been terrible lately.  BA is below 200 and Gus OPS is down to 754.

Definitely disappointing to see him slumping but I suspect he'll get hot again soon.  

[seak05]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

After a blistering start, Westburg has been terrible lately.  BA is below 200 and Gus OPS is down to 754.

He's definitely slumping, but his BA on balls in play is also only .208, so he's hitting into some bad luck too

[DocJJ]

hitting .190.

 

WTF?

 

 

 

[Moose Milligan]

First month of the season, I'm not worried.  

[btdart20]

4/8 to 4/19:  .306/.444/.694 (1.139 OPS) and a .292 babip.  8 Ks and 9 BBs over 45 PA.  

4/20 to 5/3:  .104/.157/.208 (.365 OPS) and a .133 babip.  17 Ks and 3 BBs over 51 PA.  

His HR LA wasn't the only thing high heading into 4/20.  His blazing start went up in smoke! 

 

 

[Frobby]

7 minutes ago, btdart20 said:

4/8 to 4/19:  .306/.444/.694 (1.139 OPS) and a .292 babip.  8 Ks and 9 BBs over 45 PA.  

4/20 to 5/3:  .104/.157/.208 (.365 OPS) and a .133 babip.  17 Ks and 3 BBs over 51 PA.  

His HR LA wasn't the only thing high heading into 4/20.  His blazing start went up in smoke! 

 

 

Some bad luck in there, but his much higher K rate and lower BB rate lately shows it’s not just bad luck.  Still, it’s 12 games.  Hopefully he turns it around shortly.