With Westburg down, Orioles renew high hopes for Coby Mayo at third base

It’s less than ideal so far in Sarasota that two emerging, young Orioles stars in Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg are already lost for the start of the MLB season. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss what it means for Coby Mayo and newly-acquired Blaze Alexander now that grapefruit baseball has begun and jobs are available in Baltimore.

Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the impact of Jordan Westburg’s injury on the Baltimore Orioles. Westburg, initially expected to be ready for opening day, now faces a UCL injury, sidelining him through April. The conversation highlighted the potential challenges for Kobe Mayo at third base, given his inconsistent performance and the need for a reliable defensive option. The Orioles’ roster flexibility is also a concern, with players like Blaze Alexander and Jeremiah Jackson potentially filling infield roles. The discussion also touched on the psychological toll of repeated injuries on Westburg and the team’s overall defensive strategy.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host Maryland crab cake tour appearance at Gertrude on March 4 (promote event and attend as announced)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host Maryland crab cake tour appearance at Costas in Dundalk on March 6 (promote event and attend as announced)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host Maryland crab cake tour appearance at Missoney’s in Perry Hall on March 10 (promote event and attend as announced)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Conduct a recorded segment with Zach Dermer later today (schedule and present the segment as stated)
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Take a break and resume the broadcast after the break as announced (return to on-air program)

Jordan Westburg’s Injury and Its Impact on the Orioles

• Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discuss the impact of Jordan Westburg’s injury on the Orioles’ plans for the season.
• Nestor mentions the loss of key players like Holt and Westburg, affecting the team’s early season outlook.
• Luke Jones compares the current situation to 2025, highlighting the uncertainty and potential issues with pitchers and position players.
• The conversation touches on the potential impact of Westburg’s injury on players like Ryan Mountcastle and Kobe Mayo.

Details of Westburg’s Injury and Recovery

• Luke Jones explains that Westburg initially had an oblique strain, which then led to a partially torn UCL.
• The Orioles are considering a conservative approach, including PRP injections and rest, before deciding on surgery.
• Nestor and Luke discuss the differences between pitchers and position players undergoing UCL injuries.
• The conversation includes examples of other players who have had similar injuries and their recovery timelines.

Impact on Kobe Mayo and the Orioles’ Infield

• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential for Kobe Mayo to handle third base, given his previous injuries and inconsistent performance.
• Luke mentions that Mayo’s athleticism might help him adapt to third base, but his throwing consistency is a concern.
• The conversation highlights the importance of Mayo’s performance at third base for the team’s overall defense and pitching.
• Nestor and Luke speculate on the potential roster changes and the impact on the Orioles’ defensive strategy.

Potential Roster Adjustments and Player Performance

• Nestor and Luke discuss the potential for Blaze Alexander and Jeremiah Jackson to fill infield roles if Mayo struggles.
• The conversation includes a mention of Ramon Urias, who was recently reassigned, and his potential return to play third base.
• Luke highlights the importance of having a reliable third baseman, given the team’s defensive challenges.
• The discussion touches on the potential for Mayo to play second base if third base proves too challenging.

Long-Term Implications for Westburg and the Orioles

• Nestor and Luke reflect on Westburg’s injury history and the impact on his long-term career prospects.
• Luke compares Westburg’s situation to other players who have faced similar challenges, such as Nolan Reimold.
• The conversation includes a discussion on the mental toll of repeated injuries and the impact on a player’s confidence.
• Nestor and Luke speculate on the potential for Westburg to return as a DH or second baseman if he cannot play third base.

Overall Outlook for the Orioles’ Season

• Nestor and Luke discuss the broader implications of Westburg’s injury on the Orioles’ season goals.
• The conversation includes a mention of Nestor’s over/under bet on the Orioles’ playoff chances, which is now in jeopardy.
• Luke emphasizes the importance of having a solid plan B for the infield, given the uncertainty surrounding Westburg and Mayo.
• The discussion concludes with a focus on the need for the Orioles to adapt and find solutions to their infield challenges.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Jordan Westburg injury, Kobe Mayo, third base, spring training, UCL injury, Tommy John surgery, Orioles roster, Jackson Holt, Craig Albernaz, Mike Elias, baseball prospects, defensive consistency, injury recovery, Baltimore Orioles, free agency.

SPEAKERS

Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio

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Nestor Aparicio  00:01

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T am 1570 to Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positively making our way here through the early parts of spring training, the early parts of free agency in the NFL. But it is combine week, so we’ll be all eyes on that, but we’re gonna talk baseball in this segment. All are brought to you by our friends. At the Maryland lottery, we have put together three. Count them, three, Maryland crab cake tours. Beginning next Wednesday, we’ll be at Gertrude on the fourth at the BMA, in advance of the 1966 show with Dan Rodricks. Friday the sixth, we will be at Costas in Dundalk, my homeland, for my dad’s birthday. And then on the 10th of March, we will be at missoney’s in Perry Hall, new location. Greg Missoni of Dundalk and his daughter serving up a hell of a meatball over there. They told me they didn’t have crab cakes. I said, That’s right. I’m going to come and have the crab toast, whatever they’re going to have. Luke Jones is here. He is having whatever they’re having. You and I were would have been having a grapefruit and a proper Courtyard by breakfast meals, some oatmeal this morning, or something like that down in Sarasota. Instead, we are here in Baltimore. Luke, credentialed. I’m not credentialed. I decided, yeah, we’re not going to do it this year, so we’re going to watch it from the outside. And the Jordan westburg situation last week, we thought he could be ready for opening day. Obviously, that’s gone. So we’ve lost holiday we’ve lost Westberg. Now I do want to talk about Craig Albernaz as manager and Mike Elias as general manager, but the best laid plans when you lose blue chip guys like this in their prime young it’s not a good February message, at least for me. I know we’re not in the March yet, but it’s been a tough February for the orange

Luke Jones  01:43

it feels a lot like 2025 doesn’t it? I mean, it’s just, it’s unfortunate. And look, I mean, you get to the beginning of spring training, and especially in modern baseball, it is a time where you’re holding your breath, but typically it’s more on the pitching side, right? Guys that have a sore elbow, guys that have a sore shoulder, guys that might have had an elbow issue at the end of last year, and they feel good over the winter because they’re, you know, they take some time off, they recover, they recuperate, and then when you’re starting to ramp things back up, starting, you know, January into early February, that’s when you tend to find that. I mean, we’ve seen around the league, there have been guys already that are out for the year and having Tommy John surgery, but with the Orioles, you know, for all the talk over the winter about Ryan mount castle and Kobe mayo and now Pete Alonso being added to the mix, and what that means for Ryan mountcastle and Kobe mayo and all the potential shuffling you could do, not so much with Mount castle, but with mayo, of course, deal him right now, right? Well, I mean, we’re going to get into it, but with all of that, you’re counting on Jackson holiday to play, I don’t know 140 150 games. I mean, I’m, you know, I’m not saying guys are going to be Cal Ripken in the modern era. And certainly, you know guys that aren’t fully established as bonafide everyday players. You know, in holidays case, I’ll hear the argument that he’s going to sit against some tough lefties from time to time at this stage of his career, until he proves otherwise, but he breaks the ham eight bone. That’s a freak thing. You know. I don’t want to make any commentary on Jackson holiday, suddenly, now be an injury prone or anything cage. When did out of that? Live batting practice. Live batting practice, yeah. I mean, you know, I, I one of the first guys I remember breaking a handmade phone was Ken Griffey Jr, back in the 90s, you know? I mean, it’s, you know, Mark a student in 2012 during the season. You know what, when the Raven, or when the Orioles made the playoffs that, you know, breaking the 14 year drought and all that. But it, you know, in the case of Jordan Westberg, he started out with an oblique strain that he kind of said that he just started feeling sore back in late January, I guess it was and but at the start of spring training, like Elias had said, they had kind of turned the corner with that. They felt that he was doing better. He was going to miss the start of grapefruit League, but they felt very confident he was going to be ready to go. Well, part of that ramp up, then part of that progression from that was him starting to throw again. Well, lo and behold, he has a UCL injury. You know, he has a partially torn UCL that they’re going to rehab for the time be. For the time being, he had a PRP injection. He’s out for April. We know that. I think it’s important to point out it is different when you’re talking about a position player as opposed to a pitcher, in terms of going about it from a conservative standpoint. And also, if, in fact, he does have to have UCL reconstruction, you know, Tommy John, or some other version of UCL surgery. You know, looking at guys in recent years like Didi Gregorius for the Yankees, I think he had, he had Tommy John surgery at the end of the season. You know, it was like mid October. We think of it as being such a pitcher’s thing. But everybody throws. Ball. Well, Matt, we had Tommy John surgery, if you recall. So you know, it’s a little bit different for a pitcher or even a catcher, but you are talking about someone who’s left side of the infield. I’m not going to sit here and say I have full conviction that Jordan Westberg is going to avoid surgery. But as I will also say to you as well, it’s it’s not my place to just say, Hey, start cutting guys open and doing that. So I think what you have to look at here is the timing of this. I was getting ready to say with DD Gregorious, or some others in recent years, infielders who’ve had Tommy John. You look at the recovery, it’s, it’s, it’s a shorter time span, eight months, nine months, something like that, as opposed to a pitcher, where it’s 12 to 16, depending on the time of the year. So I think this does give the Orioles some wiggle room in terms of one, how is he recovering? This was not like an acute thing. It’s not like he, you know, that from all accounts, you know, Westberg and Elias talking about it and everything, this wasn’t like he. You know, he threw too hard one time and grabbed his elbow, right? This was more of a chronic over time, usage over usage, or, you know, just the reality of these guys throwing baseballs all the time. So, where does that put him? We’re in late February. They’ve already said he’s going to be out through April. I think if you look at the timing of others, you kind of put in maybe July two

Nestor Aparicio  06:24

month rest kind of thing. Yeah, probably, that’s probably what, not that you’re Dr Jones here, but you’ll play one today, but, but a couple of months of rest. Will reevaluate in May, and if not, we cut then, and you’ll be back for spring training next year. Yeah? But the notion that he’s going to get caught on and throw a ball across the infield 2026 that’s not happening, yeah?

Luke Jones  06:41

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I mean, if he has surgery, then he, yeah, he’s done. I mean, the only and even, even with that time frame, like, let’s say they did what some fans and you know what look I mean, everyone’s entitled to their opinion. I know he called us back in August or something like, I know how this often goes, Yeah, but even if you have surgery now, best case scenario would maybe be him being available to DH at the end of the season, right? I mean, that that’s what you’re looking at here. So you do the PRP injection, you rest. There have, despite what people think, there have been pitchers, there have been infielders, there have been position players who have had UCL tears, you know, albeit partial ones like this, and they go about rehab, PRP injection, and they’re able to avoid surgery. So I think some of this will also be, what’s the state of the roster come May or June, right? I mean, you look at it right now, you could say, Okay, well, you know, they, they have Samuel besayo, who’s going to DH a whole lot, they have Tyler O’Neill, who’s going to DH a lot. Well, we don’t know what the state of the roster is going to be. Then they might be in a position where Jordan Westberg might be available to DH come June, and he might be their DH the rest of the year, because two other players have gotten hurt. I don’t know, but it stinks, and especially for him, it really stinks. I mean, this is a guy that, at this point, might be

Nestor Aparicio  08:04

a better second base than third base upon comeback, right? Yeah, arm strength, right? Yeah.

Luke Jones  08:09

And that’s where it’s and that’s where it starts to get complicated, because, you know, well, Jackson holiday is not a third baseman, right? I mean, holidays played second, of course, he came up as a shortstop. Westberg is more your third base guy. We’re going to find out a lot about Kobe Mayo this spring in terms of, can he handle third base? I mean, we already had the questions about the bat being consistent enough, and I’m willing to buy the fact that he had a heck of a September. I hope that was the turning point for him. But, man, hopes of Kobe Mayo playing being able to play third base. That’s doing a lot of heavy lifting right now in terms of how your pitchers are going to feel about that, how your defense is going to go with that. I mean, it’s great. A lot of

Nestor Aparicio  08:49

stratum attic, and if Tom capper right here, and Charlie Kilgore and my they’d say he’s a five, that one to four was like, one was like, Roberto Alomar, four was like, I don’t know. I don’t know Nate name anybody who was a terrible fielder. And then there’s a five, which is, don’t put them out there, you know, or you don’t put them out there. But five, you don’t put them out there. I don’t know, with Kobe Mayo that he could ever be a three,

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Luke Jones  09:14

I think. I mean, the reality is, you just kind of look at where they were last year. I mean, he transitioned to first base, and then he was just playing first base. And by the way, I thought he was progressing to be a solid, at least eventually, a solid first baseman, third base. See him as an athlete. He probably played basketball. He’s, like, he’s an athlete, I mean, and that’s the thing, by most accounts. And look, I’m going off of what we’ve seen in a very small sample of him at third base. I mean, like, it’s not many games, you know, it’s early last year and the year before that, he played a little bit there, right? Because when West Westberg got hurt after the deadline two years ago, but he’s athletic, and the overall, the overall sentiment, is that it’s not necessarily his glove that’s the issue. It’s his throwing that’s inconsistent, but they don’t. Say his arms weak, like it’s not like Ryan mountcastle When he was playing shortstop in third base earlier in his minor league career, where the thought was his arm just wasn’t really strong enough for it. They think Mayo has a strong enough arm, but can he be consistent enough? And that’s where, you know. And we won’t transition just yet here, because I think there’s a little bit more to talk about here, but this is where you’re looking at Craig Albernaz and a new coaching staff to say, okay, maybe what wouldn’t click, or what they weren’t able to do with Kobe Mayo at third base with the previous regime. Maybe the new regime connects with him in a way that it clicks a little bit more for him. So but to just go back to Westberg for a moment.

Nestor Aparicio  10:41

By the way, Kobe Mayo was in the Parkland shooting. Did you know that? Yes, I did not know that. I have not read the back of his bubblegum card quite that way. I was trying to see if he played other sports as a kid, because he does look athletic. He looks like a kid. Yeah, playing third base. It doesn’t feel impossible to me that they can hide him over there. But then there’s the bat in a general sense, like you love everybody wanted him a year and a half ago. He’s a top prospect. He’s a 30 home run prospect, kind of guy who’s probably going to hit 30 home runs. If you give him the chance to hit 30 home runs, he might strike out 300 times doing it, but he’s going to make connection with though he’s also 24 years old. So I don’t, I don’t know, like the mayo thing, he’s not a guy we’ve talked about at all in the offseason, other than he’s trade bait. Him up. He’s not going to make the team. Now of a sudden, they can find 450 at bats for him if he can hit the ball.

Luke Jones  11:32

Well, I’ll go back to what he did last September. Last September, 84 played appearances. He batted 301, he had a 941, ops. He had five home runs he had. He drove in eight runs the you know, the walks ticked up a little bit.

Nestor Aparicio  11:46

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This is where Elisa said, that’s why we didn’t trade him.

Luke Jones  11:49

Oh, there’s also the factor of, you know, you’re gonna have injuries, right? And you’re not going to trade them just for the sake of trading him. Look, I’m not going to sit here and say that his trade value might, may not be that it’s as good as it was at its best. But I don’t I, I will reject the idea that it’s gone, you know, because we’re not talking about someone who’s had that much time in the major leagues. And like I said, I mean, go back and look at his September, he really started to figure it out. You’re hoping that that’s a sign of more to come. But, you know, again, that was also looking through the lens of him being a first baseman or a D, H, you add Pete Alonso, and look, that’s not me being critical. The Orioles signing Pete Alonso, let’s be clear. But that changed the calculus as far as what Kobe Mayo’s path to playing time is. But now, with Jordan Westberg out of the picture, at least through April. You’re at least going to look at these next few weeks, and you’re going to give as you’ve seen the first two of the first three Spring Games, Kobe Mayo started at third base. He’s going to play a lot of third base, because they need to see if he can do it.

Nestor Aparicio  12:52

This was a Jeremiah Jackson’s and the other the guys that they had, Urias and Matteo, that’s where these guys would always sort of fit in, but they already got Blaze Alexander, who’s got the best name on the team. He don’t play. He’ll be playing blazing second base, right? He’s a 500 at bat guy this year now.

Luke Jones  13:10

I mean, he’s playing second or third, most likely second. And the sentiment is that those are his two best positions anyway. I mean, he can, he can play short for you, you know, if gunner needs a day or gunner turns his ankle and misses. You know, has to miss a couple games, but he’s gonna play a lot. I mean, that plays Alexander trade. It’s funny. I mean, by all accounts, certainly with the holiday injury, the holiday injury was the day after that trade. So there was no forward thinking there. Maybe there was a thought, just in general, they knew westburg had the oblique, but at that point, again, the oblique wasn’t that wasn’t a concern for them, like that, that he was going to miss a month of the season. It was more probably just, well, Jordan westburg keeps getting hurt, right? I mean, you get to a point where you start to just question, can you count on Well, you’re not worried about

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Nestor Aparicio  13:58

spring training at bats. You have plenty of those, and you have plenty of depth. I mean, you’re really worried about March 26 Right? Exactly.

Luke Jones  14:05

I mean, yes, guys need time to get ramped up, and you don’t want someone missing the entire spring and just going right into the opening day lineup. We talked about that a lot with Gunner Anderson last year, right? I mean, how he missed most of spring training, and then he missed the first week of the season, and, you know, lo and behold, we find out after the season, as many of us predicted, there was another issue. He had a shoulder issue during during the season, which zapped his power. But it’s important, and that’s one reason why, you know, I take a little bit of pause on where Jackson holiday is going to be, maybe statistically, April, May and even maybe into June, right? I mean, a handmade bone. You kind of look at some of the anecdotal evidence out there, and others who’ve had it, they kind of say it zaps your power, even when you come back. You know that that you don’t necessarily feel fully 100% for another month or two after that, which, you know, it’s not the end of the world, as long as he can get back out there and still contribute and still be, you know, some. Who’s giving you positive

Nestor Aparicio  15:01

contribution to aortic parts of your tough man. It’s tough

Luke Jones  15:05

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pulling out. I mean, yeah, I mean, what team in baseball can endure right off the bat losing two starting infielders? I mean, even you do that to the Dodgers, I’m like, I’m not saying your season’s over, and I’m not saying the Oriole season is over, but that’s tough. You know? I mean two starting players right there and and not just that, but two starting players, if you’re trying to do the overall math, of the Orioles being better than they were last year, Jackson holiday taking the next step, and Jordan Westbrook not even needing to take the next step in terms of how he plays. Just stay on the field. Those were two guys that I’m not saying they’re at the top of the list, but they were certainly guys you were mentioning to make that argument right, to to be even better. Holiday will be a year older. Jordan westburg is going to be back healthy, right?

Nestor Aparicio  15:52

So I made the case that Westberg was going to be the best player out of all of them, and I made that case most of two summers ago, and then since then, he’s been injured, you know? I mean, I, I, maybe I’m the one who jinxed him, because I said, when all this adds up, I bet he’ll have a career that will be better than gunner Henderson’s in regard to a 15 year player, in regard to a 2500 hit, kind of guy, I saw westburg as being just a gamer, kind of bj surhoff, kind of career where he was going to be a solid Major League Baseball player for a long time. That was my assessment of him, when all the young guys were running around, when holiday was barely, you know, old, barely legal in here and like, wasn’t very good. Two summers ago, I thought when they were all healthy, I thought Westbrook was was top of class. And that’s when Richmond started to fall down the mountain a little bit. A little bit too.

Luke Jones  16:43

So, yeah, I mean, I certainly wasn’t going to put him there next to gunner Henderson. Gunner Henderson’s a special player. I mean, I think he can be a special player, and already has had a special season already. So, but that said, and you just said, it westberg’s ascent. Now, granted, Adley rutsman had a good first half two years ago, but you kind of looked at the timing of that. Yeah. I mean, Westberg had made the all star team. He was looking like he was on his way to being a guy, and maybe, you know, I’ll agree with you, in the sense that I almost looked at Westberg at that point in time, two years ago, as the guy that felt like he might be the guy that has the highest floor out of any of these guys, other than Gunnar Henderson, and my goodness, he’s just been hammered with injuries ever since. I mean, this is not a guy that had an injury history in college. This is not a guy that missed games in the minor leagues. I mean, he was, by all accounts, a gamer, a guy that just played just about every day and was just going to be rock solid, productive, could play multiple positions, and struck

Nestor Aparicio  17:48

me in that Mark hakus kind of way, you know, I think the kind of players they’ve had here, Brian Roberts, you know, yeah, although Brian had the head issues later on, but just from a everyday standpoint, they’re going to miss him. And this is, this is problematic for my over bet. You know, I made the over bet two weeks ago that I thought their playoff team, this is when you start to chip away. Because this isn’t the only thing that’s going to go

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Luke Jones  18:12

wrong well and something like this where, and let me be clear, I’m not saying Jackson holiday is Robbie Alomar and Jordan Westberg is Manny Machado at third base defensively, far from it. But you start getting into, as we already said, Okay, you can sell people on the idea that Kobe mayo, what we saw in September, is a sign of more, better things to come, right? What we saw at the end of that season last year was what he can be in 2026 All right, I’ll sign off on that possibility. It’s a really tough sell right now to tell people that he can handle third base, so that and that has an impact on your defense, that has an impact on your pitching. You know, whether we’re talking about the starters or whether we’re talking about the bullpen, right? I mean, can you trust the ball to be hit to him in the eighth or ninth inning in a one run game? Right? So it’s tough. I mean, it really is. And you know, the problem now with Westberg at this point, and I said this to you before we even began our conversation, you’re really getting to the point now where, let me, let me be clear. No, no snap judgments here of saying, you know, fans say, I’ll trade them. Get rid of them. You know, you can’t, but it is very much becoming into the you’re entering the realm now, where you can’t necessarily just look at him as plan A and not have an excellent plan B behind him. Because, you know, you go back to two years ago day after the trade deadline, gets hit on the hand by a 95 mile per hour fastball. That’s not, you know, that’s, that’s a freakish thing, right? That can happen to any player. You know, you get hit in the wrong spot, you’re out. But you go back to last year, even in spring training, had a little bit of a back issue, because he slept on a, you know, slept on a bed funny. So he had that, or that. Might that might have actually been in Toronto, now that I think about it might have been very beginning of the season, but had that missed a little bit of time with that, did not go on the Il. But then had a hamstring, missed time, extensive time with that, came back, slid into the bag head first, had a finger issue that that happened at Yankee Stadium. What was that? July? Something June or July, something like that, missed a little bit of time there, did not go on the IL came back, kind of heard it again. Missed a few more days, and then later in the season, had the sprained ankle, where he was back on the Il. I mean, this, you know, had an oblique earlier this spring, and now an elbow issue. I mean, this is just, I mean, he just turned reminds me of Lamar. We don’t know what part of the body. I mean, it reminds I said to you, you know, I threw out a name Nolan reimaled, right? I mean, you know, you think back to Jeffrey Hammonds back in the 90s, right? I mean, guys that talented players, guys that you thought had a chance to be rock solid to good, to really good, everyday players, and their bodies just betray them. So, you know, I don’t want to write off, nor I don’t want, don’t want to write, write off Jordan westburg just yet, but

Nestor Aparicio  21:09

Nolan reimaled, my God, where’d you come up with that one? I hadn’t thought of that name and how long it’s been

Luke Jones  21:16

15 years. Go, look, go. Look at his first full year in the majors. I mean, the guy put up some numbers to think maybe, and you know, could never stay healthy. So it’s unfortunate. I mean, it is. I mean, again, Westberg did not have this reputation for being hurt all the time in college or hurting the minors, and even even his first, first full calendar year in the major leagues. I mean, played, you know, I didn’t have any il stints or anything like that. And since then, it’s been, you know, these last two years have just been a nightmare. I don’t know if he walked under a bunch of ladders or bought some black cats or what, but it’s just been, it’s just been brutal. And you feel for him. You know, even seeing some of the comments that he made in Sarasota the other day, you could tell. I mean, he flat out, said I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that this hasn’t hurt my confidence, just in terms of being able to get back on the field and be productive and all that. I mean, it’s a shame, it is. I mean, we think about it, you know, from a media and fan standpoint, we think about it in terms of what it means on the field, and we’ll focus on that primarily because that’s all you can really do, right? But the human side of injuries, we talk about it a lot with the NFL, because they’re so prevalent in such a physically brutal game. But man, it that that’s a meant that is mentally taxing when you go through a run of injuries like Westberg has at this point. And even with this, he’s gonna he has the PRP, he’s gonna rest, he’s gonna rehab, will ramp up. But what’s that gonna mean Come May or June? Is he gonna play third base? Can he only play second base? Is he only a DH? And then what does that mean for your roster? Or do they get to June and say this isn’t happening and he needs to have Tommy John surgery, and then, then it’s See you next spring, right? So it’s unfortunate, and to your point, it it chips away. It’s not, you know, it’s not a death blow. I don’t want to make it to be too dramatic here, but it chips away at both your floor and your ceiling right your floor in the sense of who’s going to play third base, like Kobe Mayo would. In an ideal world, it would be Kobe Mayo being able to handle that, because he’s got the upside with the bat. But if it’s not, are you really going to trot Blaze Alexander and Jeremiah Jackson out there six or seven days a week at second or third base? You know, whichever spots they’re playing. I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  23:43

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Kobe Mayo for a third baseman, or

Luke Jones  23:45

the other possibility. I mean, you know, it was, it was interesting to see that Ramona reassigned elsewhere. Just, you know, what, the day after the news came out about westburg, yeah, I thought it was possible they bring a Reuss back, you know, to play third base. So popular guy on the team? Yeah, oh, of course, you know. So, you know, I was kind of wondering, but that said, we talked about this. When they acquired Blaze Alexander, like, they they gave up, like, Kate Stratton is a guy that I absolutely thought was going to be part of their bullpen and had a chance to be a good part of their bullpen, and a couple other minor leaguers that had some potential, so they gave up. Like, don’t get me wrong, they didn’t give up, like, their top prospects. I don’t want to oversell it, but they gave up some real talent for him. They think he’s a guy that can be a starting caliber player if needed. So, man, that move looks that much better now. And, you know, let’s, let’s be clear. I mean, holiday, the timeline for for a handmade bone. I don’t expect that he’s going to miss a ton of time like, I think we’re only talking a week or two like, I don’t think he’s going to be like, I don’t think we’re talking about him still not playing in early May. I’d be surprised by that that like, that would be a very extreme timeline outcome for him. He. Handmade bone is typically six to eight weeks, and this happened right before spring training started. I’m hoping he can be ready to go by tax day, you know, like somewhere around there, so we’ll see. I mean, that’s just my speculation, but just kind of going off that. So point is, you’re hoping, with holiday as much as it stinks, that he’s missing the spring, but once he makes his season debut, you’re still going to have a season? Yeah, worried about westburg. Westburg. I mean, we already know he’s out for for April. But what does that mean after that? I mean, is that June or do they get to June and say, you know, his elbow is not great. We don’t really have a we don’t really have the roster flexibility, just to say he’s going to be a DH, and that’s it, because you already have, you know, I mean, Samuel besayo Is your backup catcher. It’s going to DH, he’ll back up Pete Alonso at first base, although Pete Alonso hasn’t really needed a backup at first base for the bulk of his career. So, you know, you already have a couple. You know, Ryan mountcastle plays first base or DHS, right? So the idea of Westberg coming back, but not being able to play any defense, that’s problematic. So who knows? Like I said, they the calendar, from a calendar’s perspective, this isn’t like a pitcher undergoing Tommy John, where you do it now because you’re hoping he can play next year. You know you’re in a spot where, I think you have until about July, and then at that point, if Westberg elbow is no better, it’s got to get it, because then you want to be in a position where he can be ready to play defense for at least most of next year, if it comes down to that. But again, the in the big picture, sense, man, you’re just looking at Jordan Westberg and and you’re starting to have more and more doubts whether you just can just count on him as a as an everyday player. And that’s a shame, because even last year, go look at his numbers, you know, and in about half a season, look at the numbers he put up, and what that translates to for over 150 games. I mean, you’re talking about a guy that could hit 30 home runs for you, could drive in 80 runs for you. You know a guy that can play third base or second base, so it’s unfortunate, but they’ve got to move on. And as I said, all eyes on Kobe Mayo being able to play third base for the time being, because I have my doubts about that, you know. And it’s not even so much that I dislike him as much as it’s that you need to have someone that you can count on there for your pitching. I mean, this is already, this is already a team that, on paper, doesn’t look great defensively for despite the fact that that they have these young athletic guys. I mean, you know, we talked a lot about their defense, you know, going back to last year and even the year before that. But you know, you now are talking about Kobe Mayo playing a spot that a year ago they deemed he couldn’t play anymore, and now he’s playing it again. I’m skeptical of that, so we’ll see. To your point. And I’ve said it before, he is an athlete. Like, it’s not like he’s a statue there. You know, I’m not saying this is good. And I’ll use this reference because Alan McCallum used it, you know, on my Facebook page, I don’t think he’s like a bad athlete in the way that you thought of like Leo Gomez at third base. But man, I mean that

Nestor Aparicio  28:13

Peter Angelos liked Leo Gomez. He wanted to play him.

Luke Jones  28:16

Leo Gomez was a good player for about five minutes. I mean, he was but Yeah, certainly they could not play third base.

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Nestor Aparicio  28:23

Leo Gomez, by the way, you made me look up Nolan rhyme old Do you know his wife is a celebrity, interior or something on television? Jenny rhymes, you can look her up. They have seven kids, adopted kids live in Florida. So there’s your you know, you gave me a Nolan rhyme old thing. I’m like, Where the heck is he? Look his wife’s a celebrity. He’s got it made. He didn’t need to make it in baseball. Yeah, right now.

Luke Jones  28:46

And just and the other factor, remember, I said his rookie year. His rookie year, he had a 2.6 wins above replacement in 104 games. He had 18 doubles, 15 home runs, 45 RBIs. He had an 831 ops, batted 279, I mean, that that was

Nestor Aparicio  29:02

his rookie year. That’s a hard thing to look at and say. He never made it. That’s Joe Charbonneau. I’ll put Joe Charbonneau in there. I’ll give a couple other people, but there are many,

Luke Jones  29:11

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but, but unfortunately, you know, I’m starting to have more and more concerns that Jordan westberg’s fallen down that path because he’s man. He’s just snake bitten. I mean, Snake bitten is an understatement for what’s happened to him these last two calendar years.

Nestor Aparicio  29:24

He is Luke Jones. We he is Baltimore Luke. We’re we’ll step out, we’ll take a break. We’re going to come back. We’re going to talk about new owners or new managers with the new owners and new coaches with the old owners in football and baseball. We’re going to be doing the Maryland crab cake tour three times, beginning next week. On the fourth, we’re going to be a Gertrude on the sixth. We’re going to be at cost this Costas and Dundalk. Then on the 10th, we move to a new location. Will be a Perry Hall at missones. All of it brought to you by the Maryland lottery. In conjunction with our friends at GBMC, also want to give a shout out to foreigner and Dermer foreign in and Dermer I know, see, I he knows I’m going to screw it up the comfort guys, that’s why they. Have a catch line. They’re up at Baltimore positive as well. They’re sponsoring all of our sports stuff, and more than that, I’m going to do a whole segment with Zach here later on today. Zach Dermer, but we had funky smells in my place, and their dude came out and spent three hours. The funky smells are gone. I don’t know what he did. I’m going to find out. But we had funky smells in our H back, and the comfort guys have made me a lot more comfortable here this week. So big appreciation to farnander. He is Luke. I’m Nestor. We got plenty more ahead some sports. We had quasi and fume on this week as well. So we’re talking about things going on in DC and in the greater world, as well as spring training ahead and, of course, the NFL Combine. I’m Nestor, we’re W, N, S T AM, 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We never stop talking Baltimore positive.