The Orioles made a batch of roster moves today, with Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com among those to relay them. Infielder Jordan Westburg and catcher Gary Sánchez have each landed on the 10-day injured list, Westburgh due to a left hamstring strain and Sanchez due to right wrist inflammation. Catcher Maverick Handley and infielder Emmanuel Rivera have been selected to replace them on the roster. To open 40-man spots for those two, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez and outfielder Colton Cowser were each transferred to the 60-day injured list.
It continues a rough start to the season for Westburg. He made the All-Star game behind a .264/.312/.481 showing a season ago. He’s been out to a much slower pace this year, posting a .217/.265/.391 slash through 23 games. Westburg has hit four homers, but a drop in his hard contact rates have contributed to a mediocre .242 average on balls in play. He had a stretch of seven consecutive hitless games during the middle of the month. He’d begun to turn things around, with hits in six of his last seven, before hamstring discomfort kept him out of Sunday’s lineup.
Ramón UrÃas has drawn into the lineup at the hot corner over the past few days. He’ll take over as the starting third baseman while Westburg is on the shelf. UrÃas is a good depth infielder. He won a Gold Glove a few seasons ago and has shown himself to be a slightly above-average hitter over parts of six seasons. He has raced out to a .317/.386/.400 start this year, drawing eight walks against 11 punchouts over 70 trips to the plate.
More to come.