Rich Dubroff

Westburg, Rutschman, Basallo out of Orioles’ lineup

BOSTON—Third baseman Jordan Westburg and catcher Adley Rutschman are out of the Orioles’ lineup for Tuesday night’s game against the Red Sox because of injuries. Rookie sensation Samuel Basallo also is on the bench.

Westburg, who injured his right ankle in the first inning of Monday night’s game and was replaced by Luis Vázquez, was noticeably limping in the Orioles’ clubhouse and had a walking boot at his locker.

“Came in sore today, but not as sore as we thought he might be, which was a positive sign,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “It’s hard to be overly optimistic until probably after [Wednesday’s] offday. When we get to Thursday, we’ll have a pretty good idea if we’re going to keep him day-to-day and keep him off the [injured list]. Doesn’t mean he’s going to play Thursday.

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“If we’re able to suck it up for four or five days and then play him … If he comes in and there’s not a lot of improvement, we’re probably going to have to consider the IL”

Rutschman was in the original lineup for Tuesday night’s game, but was scratched and replaced by Alex Jackson.

“He’s got some side soreness that popped up,” Mansolino said. “It sounds like yesterday he had some general soreness in the opposite said that he injured [his oblique].”

Rutschman missed five weeks with a strained left oblique and returned July 28th.

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“Came in today, started his cage routine, wisely stopped, so we’ll get him checked out tomorrow,” Mansolino said. “We’ll see the severity of it, and we’ll go from there.”

Basallo also isn’t in Tuesday’s lineup after driving in 4 runs in his first two big league games.

“I think having a day to just kind of review the day yesterday for him catching I think lended itself to maybe sitting today,” Mansolino said. “Just with these guys, with [Dylan] Beavers, with Basallo, we’re gonna play them probably a lot more than Coby [Mayo] did here initially when Coby got here, but I do think there is validation in these guys not getting thrown to the wolves completely here from the get-go.

“You’ve got to kind of see the big picture, be smart, not kill them right away. Just kind of weave them into it the right way.”

Mansolino has seen innumerable injuries this season.

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“It’s not been fun. The injury bug, the injury situation that we’ve had has been pretty wild,” he said. “At some point, the baseball gods are going to take their foot off our necks.”

Jorge Mateo, who’s on the 60-day injured list with a strained left hamstring, will begin a rehab stint at Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday. He’ll play infield and outfield.

Notes: Single-A Delmarva right-hander Esteban Mejia was placed on the development list. Mejia, the Orioles’ seventh-ranked prospect, has met the organization’s workload goals for 2025 and won’t pitch again and begin a development plan to be ready for spring training 2026. … Outfielder Jordyn Adams cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Norfolk while outfielder Greg Allen declined an assignment to Norfolk and elected free agency.  … Left-hander Boston Bateman and right-hander Tanner Smith go from Single-A Delmarva to High-A Aberdeen. … Right-hander Todd Kniebee goes from the Florida Complex League Orioles to Delmarva. … Catcher Ethan Anderson and right-hander Carter Baumler move from Aberdeen to Double-A Chesapeake. … Outfielder Reed Trimble assigned to Chesapeake from Norfolk. … Right-hander Yaqui Rivera placed on Baysox’s development list.

Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com.

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Rich Dubroff

Rich Dubroff grew up in Brooklyn as a fan of New York teams, but after he moved to Baltimore, quickly adopted the Orioles and Colts. After nearly two decades as a freelancer assisting on Orioles coverage for several outlets, principally The Capital in Annapolis and The Carroll County Times, Dubroff began covering the team fulltime in 2011. He spent five years at Comcast SportsNet’s website and for the last two seasons, wrote for PressBoxonline.com, Dubroff lives in Baltimore with his wife of more than 30 years, Susan.

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