BALTIMORE -- The Orioles made a bevy of moves as they opened their homestand against the Tigers on Tuesday evening. They got two more offensive boosts but also took a hit defensively -- and made one surprising move as well.
Prior to its 5-3 series-opening loss, Baltimore reinstated both infielder Jordan Westburg and center fielder Cedric Mullins from the 10-day injured list. In corresponding transactions, outfielder Heston Kjerstad was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk and corner infielder Emmanuel Rivera was designated for assignment.
“I think everybody in Baltimore is excited,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said pregame. “And we’re still missing a couple, and then we’re still missing pitching, too. … But yeah, whenever you got two guys that walk in like Jordan and Ced, you feel great.”
Nearly five hours later -- just two minutes before first pitch -- the O’s placed infielder/outfielder Jorge Mateo on the 10-day injured list and selected infielder Luis Vázquez from Norfolk.
The O’s 40-man roster has 39 players.
Westburg -- who went 1-for-3 with a homer to lead off the ninth inning on Tuesday -- had been on the IL since April 28 with a left hamstring strain. After a slower start to the season (a .217 average with a .656 OPS and four home runs in his first 23 games), the 2024 All-Star was beginning to heat up in his seven games prior to the injury (going 9-for-29 in that stretch).
The O’s didn’t expect their third baseman to miss more than a month, but a setback in mid-May pushed back the start of his rehab assignment to May 29.
Westburg played eight rehab games at Triple-A, going 11-for-28 (.393) with four doubles, two home runs and five RBIs. His time rehabbing enabled him to assess those things in his game that he wasn’t satisfied with during the first few weeks of the season and focus on what was working well at the time of his injury.
“I certainly didn’t figure it out, but I feel better than where I had left off,” Westburg said. “I was kind of -- during my rehab, just kind of trying to be honest with myself and gauge where I was at, how I felt, what I was looking for."
In the past eight days, outfielders Colton Cowser (June 3) and Ramón Laureano (Friday), Westburg and Mullins have all returned to Baltimore. Outfielder Tyler O’Neill (left shoulder impingement) and catcher Gary Sánchez (right wrist inflammation) have been rehabbing with Norfolk and could also return later this week, though it’s more likely they return when the O’s hit the road next week.
“At some point here in the next however many days, you’ll see Gary and you’ll see T.O., and we’ll feel even better,” Mansolino said. “I think there’s a very small percent that [they’ll be back this week], and if that doesn’t happen, you see them on the road trip.”
Then there’s Mateo, who had largely been playing center field in Mullins’ absence. On May 31, Mateo and Kjerstad (right field) collided on a popup in right-center field, with Mateo’s left elbow (repaired by Tommy John in 2024) caught in the crossfire.
Mateo felt discomfort after the collision and was placed on the IL on Tuesday -- retroactive to Saturday -- with left elbow inflammation.
“Any time you have a history like that and something pops up, there is concern,” Mansolino said postgame. “I feel like -- our medical staff isn’t super concerned about it. I think it’s more a scenario of, let’s take care of Jorgie, let’s make sure he’s healthy and give him the best chance to help us win and help himself.”
Mullins being available once more is key, as the O’s at one point were missing 80% of their Opening Day outfielders. The 30-year-old, who had been on the IL since May 30 (retroactive to May 29) due to a right hamstring strain, did not need rehab games. He went 0-for-4 in his first game back.
Kjerstad, a former top prospect, made the Orioles’ Opening Day roster for the first time in his career. But he largely struggled in the first few months of the season, hitting .192 (30-for-156) with four homers, 19 RBIs and a .567 OPS in 54 games. Kjerstad had the lowest fWAR (-1.1) on the O’s -- the only Oriole with a WAR below minus-one.
But Baltimore has a plan for Kjerstad, one that involves improvement on both sides of the ball. He’ll head back to Triple-A to work on his entire game, though with particular focus on his outfield defense -- an area he has struggled of late.
“We set out a specific plan for him as to what we wanted him to do, going down -- that we saw it more as an opportunity to make some adjustments and some changes,” Mansolino said. “... It’s the whole game. I don’t want to get into the actual specifics, but I think just -- there’s a lot of things that he can get better on out there, and I think that’s OK to say and to understand. And I think he understands that.
“For a guy that’s, I think, he’s 26 years old and still relatively inexperienced in the outfield and professional baseball, there’s absolutely a path forward for him there.”