Jordan Westburg begins hitting progression as Orioles weigh his 2027 role

Jordan Westburg picked up a bat recently. For a player who spent all of 2026 on the shelf, that sentence carries more weight than it might seem.

Per Roch Kubatko of MASN, the Baltimore Orioles infielder has begun a hitting progression as part of his recovery from Tommy John surgery, which he underwent in May. Charlie Wright of MLB Trade Rumors notes that Westburg still has a long way to go, and Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias has offered only a vague timeline for Westburg's availability heading into the 2027 campaign. A bat in hand is a step in the right direction. It is not, per the reporting, a green light.

What happened

Westburg's 2026 season was undone in two stages, per MLB Trade Rumors. An oblique strain over the winter was the first obstacle. Then came the elbow issue that led to Tommy John surgery in May. The combination wiped out his entire year. The recent news — that he has started a hitting progression — represents the first tangible positive development Baltimore has shared publicly about his recovery, per Kubatko's reporting. What that progression looks like in terms of intensity, duration, or proximity to live baseball activity is not detailed in the reporting.

Why it matters

The question of where Westburg fits is not a minor roster footnote. When healthy, he has been one of the more productive bats in Baltimore's lineup, and the Orioles are entering an offseason with real questions to answer at the infield corners.

Wright's piece frames the situation plainly: if Westburg is healthy and available come spring, Baltimore will need to determine where he slots in. That conditional is doing a lot of work. The club does not yet know what it has, and neither does anyone else. But the player they are waiting on posted a 125 wRC+ in 2024 while splitting time between second and third base, hit 18 home runs in 107 games that year after managing just three in 68 games as a rookie, and earned his first All-Star selection. His last healthy season produced a .265/.313/.457 slash line with 17 home runs in 85 games before injuries again cut his year short. That is a meaningful bat to reintegrate, assuming the recovery proceeds.

The broader organizational backdrop matters here too. A week removed from Elias publicly acknowledging a disappointing 2026 season and expressing commitment to returning the team to playoff contention, the Westburg update arrives as one piece of a larger puzzle the front office is trying to assemble. The Orioles also dealt Adley Rutschman to the Red Sox at the deadline for a five-player package that included Carlos Narvaez and four prospects — a move that reshaped the roster's identity in a significant way. Westburg's return, if it materializes, would represent internal reinforcement rather than external acquisition — the kind of depth that costs nothing in prospect capital.

The numbers

Westburg's defensive profile complicates the positional picture. Per Wright's reporting, he has recorded -7 Defensive Runs Saved in 148 appearances at third base and -3 DRS in 120 games at second base. Neither number inspires confidence, and the source notes his glove has not played particularly well at either spot.

The competition at third base, as Wright lays it out, includes Coby Mayo, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and Blaze Alexander. Mayo posted a .567 OPS against same-handed pitching — which the piece describes as rendering him basically unusable in those matchups — along with -9 DRS at the hot corner. Encarnacion-Strand hit .743 OPS against right-handed pitching and was a neutral defender at third, which Wright notes with appropriate dryness is saying a lot for this group. Alexander, who came over via trade and had a strong debut season with the Orioles, is described as the best defender in the mix, though his value is framed as more suited to a flexible, multi-position role given his time across every infield spot except first base and all three outfield positions.

The second base picture carries its own wrinkle: Wright notes that returning from elbow surgery makes second base a more complicated landing spot for Westburg, given the throwing demands of the position. The piece does not resolve that question — it raises it.

Where the club stands

The Orioles finished 79-82 (.491), fourth in the AL East and 18.5 games back in the division. They were eliminated from both the division race and the Wild Card race, sitting fifth in the Wild Card standings at 4.5 games relative to the cut line. The regular season is over, and the offseason work — roster construction, free agency, internal decisions — is what remains.

That 79-82 record is the organizational context in which Westburg's recovery is being tracked. A team that missed the playoffs is looking at its infield and asking which pieces can be counted on. Westburg, at his best, is one of the better answers to that question. At his current stage of recovery, he is still a question himself.

What we don't know yet

Elias's timeline for Westburg's 2027 availability is, per the reporting, vague. The hitting progression is a recent development, and Wright is careful to note the distance still to travel. Whether Westburg will be ready for spring training, ready for Opening Day, or operating on a longer runway is not established in the reporting. The positional fit — third base, second base, or something else — also remains unresolved, with the elbow recovery adding a layer of uncertainty to the second base option specifically.

What to watch

The spring training picture is the next meaningful checkpoint. If Westburg is participating fully by then, the infield competition Wright describes — Mayo, Encarnacion-Strand, Alexander, and Westburg all in the mix at the corners — becomes one of the more interesting internal battles in Baltimore's camp. If the recovery timeline slips, the Orioles may need to address the infield more aggressively on the open market.

For now, the desk notes what the reporting gives us: a player who missed an entire season has picked up a bat. In the long arithmetic of Tommy John recovery, that is a real milestone. It is also, as Kubatko's reporting makes clear, just the beginning of a long road back.