BALTIMORE -- Jordan Westburg will not play any games during the 2026 season.
Westburg underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery on his injured right elbow, a source told MLB.com on Friday. The club has not confirmed the news.
It’s a disappointing development for the 27-year-old infielder, who has a partial UCL tear and had hoped to play this year after getting a platelet-rich plasma injection on Feb. 20.
Westburg met with Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday, at which point the options moving forward were discussed. ElAttrache then performed the procedure on Friday in Los Angeles.
Baltimore has experienced bad injury luck since the beginning of 2025, using the injured list 39 times for 29 players last year and having already used it for 19 players this season (including 13 currently sidelined). Westburg has perhaps felt it the most.
In 2025, Westburg was limited to 85 games due to injuries to his left hamstring, left index finger and right ankle. He also fractured his right hand during the second half of the ‘24 season and dealt with lower back soreness during Spring Training in ‘25.
Heading into this spring, Westburg was slowed by a right oblique ailment. He was rehabbing that injury when he felt discomfort in his right elbow while throwing a baseball at the O’s complex in Sarasota, Fla.
After the PRP injection, Westburg had again been building up his throwing progression until he got shut down earlier this month due to recurring discomfort in the elbow.
“He’s hanging in there the best he could,” manager Craig Albernaz recently said. “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.”
When healthy, Westburg has been among the Orioles’ top hitters. The 2024 All-Star hit .264 with 38 home runs and a .768 OPS in 260 games over the previous three seasons.
It’s been frustrating for everyone involved that Westburg hasn’t been on the field more often.
“My biggest takeaway going into [this past] offseason was kind of like, 'What can I do in preparation to try to put together a full season?'" Westburg said during Spring Training in mid-February. "Worked really hard this year with a physical therapist to get my body feeling about as good as I have my whole career. I felt like I was doing everything right, and here we are again.”
In Westburg’s absence, Baltimore has used Coby Mayo, Blaze Alexander and Weston Wilson at third base. Mayo has started at the hot corner in 26 of the team’s 44 games, but the 24-year-old has had recent defensive struggles, including a two-out throwing error on May 7 that resulted in a walk-off win for the Marlins. Wilson has started three of the past four games at third.
The O’s are having Jackson Holliday (right hamate surgery) play some third base during his current rehab assignment, including on Sunday for Double-A Chesapeake and Tuesday for Triple-A Norfolk. The 22-year-old has primarily played second base during his two MLB seasons and grew up playing mostly shortstop, but he could become an option at third once he returns to Baltimore, which could be as soon as next week.