Orioles’ Westburg has partial UCL tear in right elbow but no surgery scheduled, won’t play until at least May

SARASOTA—Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg has a partial tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, but president of baseball operations Mike Elias said Friday that he won’t have surgery.

Westburg had been rehabbing a right oblique injury and reported elbow soreness during throwing drills. Elias said Westburg believed the soreness was more persistent than in the past, and an MRI was ordered.

The partial tear was found in the UCL.

“It’s something he’s had for a long time,” Elias said. Westburg was sent to Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles.

“Dr. ElAttrache agreed with our team’s assertation that we should attempt to treat this conservatively.”

Westburg, who turned 27 on Wednesday, will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection on Friday. He’ll return to spring training, where he’ll rehab with strengthening and time, Elias said.

“He’s going to be out of consideration for Opening Day,” Elias said. “He’s going to be out for February, March and April. After that, it’s too soon to get more specific with how much time he’s going to miss, but he’s going to start the season on the IL.”

With Westburg set to play third base and second baseman Jackson Holliday out for the early part of the season after surgery to remove the hamate bone in his right wrist, the Orioles will be without two key infielders for some time.

“It’s going to be tricky,” Elias said. “We’ll work around it and we’ll figure out the best way to carry forward and look forward to getting him back as soon as possible and as strong as possible.

“Having both of them out simultaneously for some amount of time in April and during this camp adds another layer of trickiness to it.”

The Orioles acquired utility infielder Blaze Alexander earlier this month, and he’ll get plenty of playing time.

Jeremiah Jackson will start at second base and Coby Mayo at third base in Friday’s Grapefruit League opener against the Yankees.

Non-roster infielders Payton Eeles, Luis Vázquez and Weston Wilson are also expected to get time in the infield this spring.

“I think we have good alternatives here, and we’ll be exploring those guys and assessing them during camp,” Elias said. “But certainly this has picked up our conversations outside the organization when it comes to infielders.”

Note: Non-roster pitcher Keagan Gillies has a right quad injury and won’t pitch during spring training.

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