3:48pm: The Orioles announced Westburg’s IL placement and the selection of Machin’s contract. Catcher Gary Sanchez was transferred from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot. He’s been out since early July due to a knee sprain.
3:35pm: The Orioles are placing infielder Jordan Westburg on the injured list and will select the contract of fellow infielder Vimael Machin to take his spot on the roster, interim manager Tony Mansolino announced to reporters (via Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun). They’ll need to make a 40-man roster move before those transactions become official.
Westburg, 26, has been out of the lineup since being removed from Monday’s game after tweaking his ankle while rounding second base. This is the former No. 30 overall pick and top prospect’s second IL stint of the season. He missed more than a month early in the year due to a hamstring strain. He also missed nearly two months last summer due to a broken right hand.
Despite the injury troubles over the past calendar year, Westburg has emerged as a clear piece of the Baltimore core. He’s played in 180 games and taken 751 plate appearances since Opening Day 2024 and slashed .269/.317/.478 (123 wRC+) with 33 homers, 35 doubles, six triples, seven steals and a 21.7% walk rate. The free-swinging Westburg has only walked in 4.9% of his trips to the plate during that time, but he’s made enough contact and hit for enough power to keep his on-base percentage close to the league average.
The O’s haven’t provided a timetable for Westburg’s return yet. He’ll be out at least a week — the IL stint will be backdated to this past Tuesday, the maximum three days allowed — and there are only about five weeks left on the regular season calendar.
In place of Westburg, the O’s will promote the journeyman Machin, who signed a minor league deal over the winter. Machin has played in 107 games and tallied 443 plate appearances with a strong .285/.344/.470 batting line with Triple-A Norfolk this season. He’s popped 15 homers and swiped 13 bases in that time, drawing walks at an 8.4% clip against a 16.7% strikeout rate that’s considerably lower than league average.
This will be Machin’s first major league action since the 2022 season. The former Cubs farmhand was a Rule 5 pick by the A’s prior to the 2020 season and spent parts of three seasons with the now-former Oakland club. He hit just .208/.290/.261 in 361 plate appearances from 2020-22, but Machin is an accomplished Triple-A hitter, evidenced by a .289/.371/.449 slash in nearly 1400 plate appearances at the top minor league level.
He’s no Ironman, which is painfully obvious!
Is there a good youngster on the farm that Westburg is blocking? The thought being perhaps trading him for starting pitching since he has a tough time staying healthy.
No. I don’t believe the Orioles will give up on someone so talented, so early in his career. They have an opportunity to have, with development, the best infield in baseball in a long, long time.
Westburg is a part of the core of this team. He is in the same group as Gunnar, Colton, Holliday etc. He isn’t blocking anyone and the position is his for the foreseeable future. He is highly underrated and a key piece of the team. Players like Mayo and Heston are the pieces that will be traded for pitching if anyone goes.
He obviously needs to stay healthy but they aren’t moving on from him so fast, he’s here to stay.
It’s too late for Kjerstad. He has almost no value right now.
If he could just stop tripping over himself, he’d be the most valuable oriole. I’d try to lock him up before Gunnar (who won’t likely sign early with Boras calling the shots).