WASHINGTON (AP) — Baltimore Orioles infielder Jordan Westburg had Tommy John surgery on his injured right elbow and will miss the 2026 season.
He had the operation on Wednesday.
“Pretty normal Tommy John surgery,” general manager Mike Elias said Friday. “Obviously this will put him out for the rest of the year. I think it’s too early to put a specific timeline on something like this, but him being back as a full player in the early part of 2027 is very much in play.”
The 27-year-old Westburg, who had a partial tear of his ulnar collateral ligament, received a platelet-rich plasma injection in February and had hoped to return this season.
“To Jordan’s credit, he wanted to try everything he could to come back and help the team this year, and help the team as an infielder, but it just wasn’t working out with the conservative route so we went ahead and got the surgery,” Elias said, “and I don’t think much of anything was lost in terms of his 2027 timeline so that’s why we went with that approach.”
Elias said Westburg met with Los Angeles Dodgers team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache this week and decided to have the surgery, which Dr. ElAttrache performed.
Westburg, an All-Star in 2024, was limited to 85 games last year because of injuries to his left hamstring, left index finger and right ankle. He hit .265 with 17 homers and 41 RBIs in 85 games.
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