Jordan Westburg’s 2026 season is over before it even started in a huge blow for the Orioles.
Westburg, 27, underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow Wednesday and is expected to miss the remainder of the season, Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias announced Friday.
The infielder, who has a partial UCL tear, was hoping to play this year after receiving a plasma injection on Feb. 20, MLB.com reported.
Baltimore Orioles’ Jordan Westburg (11) watches the flight of the ball after hitting a pitch as Tampa Bay Rays catcher Danny Jansen, right, looks on during the seventh inning of a baseball game, July 20, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack Westburg, selected by the Orioles with the No. 30 pick in 2020, has had trouble staying on the field since being called up by Baltimore midway through the 2023 season.
The 2024 All-Star fractured his throwing hand in the second half of that same season and missed over a month of 2025 while rehabbing a left hamstring strain.
Westburg had been building on his throwing progression following the plasma shot before being shut down earlier in May due to recurring discomfort in his elbow.
“He’s hanging in there the best he could,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz recently said, according to MLB.com. “But also, it weighs on you. You want to be out here, you want to be out here competing, being with the boys, playing the game he loves. … Yeah, it sucks. I feel for him.”
Jordan Westburg of the Baltimore Orioles gets hit by a pitch during a game against the Yankees in 2024. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post When healthy, Westburg has proven to be a key part of the Orioles’ lineup, posting a slash line of .265/.313/.457 with 53 doubles and 38 home runs in 260 games over the past three seasons.
Westburg is just the latest addition to a slew of injuries for Baltimore to start 2026, with over a dozen players now on their injured list less than two months into the season.
Albernaz, who has used 41 players in just 44 games, told reporters that everyone has to be “ready to compete” as injuries plague the roster.
“The next-man-up mentality is real,” Albernaz said, according to Baltimore Baseball. “All our guys will go there ready to compete, doesn’t matter who we have. First of all, they’re trying to win the game. We gotta look at things differently and do things differently.
“We’ve gotta try to do whatever and evaluate every aspect to make sure that we’re taking care of our guys and we’re doing the right thing around here, and that’s something I’m challenging the whole staff on. That’s a point of emphasis right now.”
