On a Baltimore Orioles team loaded with young talent, Jordan Westburg's name doesn't always get thrown around in top prospect or breakout conversations. Ryan Ripken, who hosts Baltimore Baseball Tonight, suggested to The Big Bad Morning Show that 2023 was just "a glimpse of what he could be."
After Westburg was promoted from Triple-A he slashed .260/.311/.404 for the Orioles in 68 games. He hit three home runs and drove in 23 runs. In 67 games prior to his promotion from Norfolk, the then-24-year-old blasted 18 home runs and drove in 54. Ripken sees power potential.
"I guarantee you he's got the pop to make a big difference wherever he can slot into the lineup," Ripken said. "And I know he's extremely determined to do that."
Spring numbers don't often mean much, but Westburg has hit the ball hard of late. On his last 11 balls put into play in games where Statcast was available (not all Spring Training games utilize Statcast), his average exit velocity was 95.8 MPH. Westburg's average exit velo on 155 batted balls from 2023 was 90.2 MPH.
Six of those 11 balls were barreled (98 MPH or greater).
"He's going to be very, very good for this team in 2024," Ripken said.