After a mediocre month of July, the Baltimore Orioles find themselves in a brutal struggle for the American League East, often considered Major League Baseball's toughest division.
Thanks to a five-game winning streak, the New York Yankees have surged to within a half-game of Baltimore, which sits at 65-44. Heading into a road series against the Cleveland Guardians, who have the best record in MLB, the Orioles need to get on a roll in August.
Unfortunately, they caught a brutal and untimely break in their 10-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday.
Infielder Jordan Westburg, who made his first career All-Star appearance in July, was hit on the hand by a Yerry Rodríguez fastball in the fifth inning against Toronto. He was quickly diagnosed with a fractured right hand.
Westburg was placed on the 10-day injured list in a flurry of moves on Thursday, though the expected recovery time is significantly longer. Manager Brandon Hyde said the team hopes to get Westburg back before the end of the regular season.
"He’s a huge part of our lineup, our culture, really everything. He’s right in the middle of everything. We have to have other guys kind of step up in his place and fill the void," Hyde said.
Westburg was in the midst of a sensational season, his first full year in the majors. He had 105 hits, 58 RBI and an .815 OPS in 101 games.
In addition to Westburg's IL placement, the Orioles activated trade acquisitions Eloy Jímenez, Austin Slater, and Trevor Rogers, who will start Thursday night in Cleveland. They also recalled infielder Livan Soto from Triple-A.
Meanwhile, reliever Keegan Akin and outfielder Heston Kjerstad were optioned to Triple-A and Cristian Pache, who was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies at the deadline, was designated for assignment.
Without Westburg, the pressure mounts on the rest of the Orioles' infielders to pick up the slack, especially number-one prospect Jackson Holliday. And it starts with a key test against the Guardians over the weekend.
More MLB: Pirates rookie superstar caps off historic July with national recognition
