BOSTON — Jordan Westburg is a head-down, get-it-done individual. He does not make a scene in the clubhouse, and if he’s making a scene on the field, it’s with his bat or glove. But in the aftermath of a trade deadline that stripped the Orioles clubhouse of many of its more outspoken leaders, such as Ryan O’Hearn and Cedric Mullins, Westburg has found his voice.
The infielder is doing it in his own way. He is avoiding any pressure, be it real or perceived, to develop into the sort of sage, free-talking veteran Baltimore is currently without. But in multiple instances lately, voice quiet in a corner of the clubhouse, Westburg has spoken as candidly as anyone on the reality of the Orioles this year.
And when he speaks, it behooves one to listen.
Last week, Westburg described Baltimore’s post-deadline clubhouse as having a leadership void, and while he takes ownership for his actions on and off the field, he indicated his belief that an addition this winter to provide a more outspoken veteran would go far in assisting a young core who, in general, is more reserved.
“I do think it would be good to have a personality going forward, whatever adjective you want to use: polarizing, loud, boisterous, whatever. But just something different,” Westburg said. “I think it would be beneficial, because as you mentioned, it frees people to be themselves. The important part is bringing in somebody who had that personality, and we’re not forcing them, like, ‘Hey, we need you to be loud,’ because then it is just adding pressure on top of what they already have.
“It’s going to be a tough decision in the offseason, or whenever it happens. It’s going to be — I don’t know who’s out there or what’s out there. I’m still very young in this game and learning everybody. But I echo that sentiment, that idea, that it would be good to have a veteran voice.”
At 27, Adley Rutschman is one of the oldest regulars in the Orioles lineup. (Stephanie Scarbrough/AP)
Westburg is only 26, and yet on Sunday, he and catcher Adley Rutschman (27) were the oldest position players in the lineup. He has been in the majors for parts of three seasons, but for many teams, these questions would not be directed toward him, Rutschman, or Gunnar Henderson (24).
The role of a veteran leader isn’t easily defined. It can be a long-tenured star à la Bryce Harper. It can be a journeyman who has experienced the lows of slumps and losing streaks and lived to tell about it. Their voices carry weight in a crowd, cutting through noise for team meetings or a quiet word in the corner.
The Orioles, in this case, aren’t a normal team. When nine players were dealt ahead of the trade deadline, many of them were the most experienced in the room, such as Charlie Morton and Ramón Laureano. O’Hearn was a central figure in the clubhouse; Mullins was the longest-tenured player.
“It is a void,” Westburg said. “It is missed. I miss those guys every day. They’ve been a part of this clubhouse for a long time now. But we just have to keep things moving.”
Part of that comes with winning. After taking a series from the Houston Astros, Westburg said producing a strong finish to this season is important for multiple reasons, including his hatred of losing. It can also signal that this is a team worth reinforcing.
“If we want to force the front office’s hand, or force things to happen in this organization, we’ve got to prove that we’re able to play winning baseball,” he said.
Westburg already began to feel greater responsibility as spring training arrived to step up, but knowing there were more senior players in the room, “I still had guys who were more ahead of me I could go to and kind of watch.”
“Now, with those guys gone, I feel the same way,” Westburg continued. “The thing I feel like we might be lacking is that a lot of us are the same personality types. I think I speak for Jackson, Gunnar, Adley, myself, we are more reserved, quiet. We are more lead-by-example guys. This clubhouse doesn’t really have that loud voice, perhaps. Not that every clubhouse needs that, but I do think that it is an important piece that we’ve had over the past couple years of one or two different guys stepping into those roles and embracing that. We’re missing that right now.”
At the tip of Westburg’s tongue were catcher James McCann, infielder Adam Frazier, right-hander Kyle Gibson and outfielders Aaron Hicks and Anthony Santander. With them around, there was always an example to follow.
Now Westburg and others are the exemplars.
After the deadline, interim manager Tony Mansolino called on Henderson, Rutschman and others to take on additional responsibility. It’s a new feeling for players still finding their way in the majors.
“I feel like a lot of guys get a couple extra years to get that leadership, to kind of figure it all out, but it’s just not the nature of it for our club,” Henderson said. “So we’re just kind of having to figure it out kind of on the fly a little bit, taking some of the examples from past couple years, but it’s still relatively new and it’s something I know for myself I’m trying to get better at.”
In quiet moments, when they’re playing cards or talking on headsets while playing video games, Westburg has dropped reminders to his teammates.
“So we’re just kind of having to figure it out kind of on the fly a little bit, taking some of the examples from past couple years, but it’s still relatively new and it’s something I know for myself I’m trying to get better at,” Gunnar Henderson said of developing a leadership role. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)
“It’s OK to lead by example,” Westburg said. “It’s OK to not have that voice. We will speak up when we need to — I don’t want that to get lost in translation, either. We speak when we need to. But we’re not going to just talk to talk. It’s just not that. And hopefully that means when words are said, they carry a bit more weight.”
Westburg comes at this with a different perspective than most, because he’s been in a situation similar to this before. In Westburg’s final year at Mississippi State, he felt the need to be something he wasn’t. He spoke up in the clubhouse and dugout, forcing himself to be a rah-rah leader to fill a void.
When he’d head home from the field, he felt inauthentic. And as he looks back on that experience now, he feels as though his put-on persona may have been see-through.
“I went home a lot of days questioning whether that was more helpful or hurtful, not only to the clubhouse but to myself,” Westburg said. “I’ve kind of learned that I’m not going to change who I am. I feel like I know my ‘why’ in this game and I have my motivations and my disciplines. … I tried the [talking] thing and it didn’t work out. It didn’t make me feel good about myself. Certainly, I wish I could give a survey to everybody who was part of that Mississippi State clubhouse to see what they thought, but it just didn’t feel good.”
Westburg has found a happier medium, in which he talks in one-on-one settings when he feels the need.
And Rutschman said in the days and weeks that have followed the trade deadline, he and others, such as Keegan Akin and Dean Kremer, have worked together to ensure any newcomers understand the traditions within the clubhouse. That may include on-base celebrations, like the sprinkler, as well as pregame batting or stretching routines.
“There are definitely little teaching moments that kind of pop up on a daily basis,” Rutschman said. “It’s like, ‘Oh, wait.’ You’ve got to teach some things and help guys along. I guess there’s a little bit of that. And you have to make sure tradition and stuff continues to carry and move forward and we don’t lose any of that because guys were traded.”
Rutschman learned those things from veteran catchers before him. Robinson Chirinos, in Baltimore as a player in 2022 before becoming the bench coach this year, took Rutschman under his wing for the former first overall pick’s rookie year. McCann picked up that role in following seasons.
Now, Mansolino said, “I fully envision Adley doing the things that were done for him. … Now it’s kind of time to pay it forward.”
Interim manager Tony Mansolino has called on the team’s young core to step up as leaders. (Ulysses Muñoz/The Baltimore Banner)
Still, Mansolino recognizes what is being asked of players who are critical pieces of the puzzle yet are in relatively early stages of their careers.
“For the longest time here, there have been veteran guys who in a sense they can hide behind,” Mansolino said. “We have guys here who on a traditional team, or a normal team, would not be leaders. But because of how the Baltimore Orioles are going to be built going forward, most likely, these guys have to carry that responsibility. It’s a big deal trying to learn how to perform in the big leagues, and then also being responsible for the performances of others in the big leagues. But we love these guys, and we think they’re capable of it. Otherwise, we would not ask them to do it.”
In a sense, Westburg and others are stepping into that role, but are doing so in their own way, as fits their personalities. Westburg would like to see reinforcements come this winter to help support the soft-spoken core — a core he wants to remain in Baltimore for years to come.
When asked whether taking a more forward-facing leadership was difficult without a long-term contract to support him, Rutschman said he didn’t know, because he hasn’t experienced the other side of it. But he emphasized how on a day-to-day basis a culture can be built.
And in a game in which tomorrow is never promised, the day-to-day matters, especially now.
“We plan on sticking around for a long time, and playing together for a long time,” Westburg said. “Whether that comes to fruition is out of our control, but that’s the plan for all of us, man. We enjoy playing together. We enjoy what we have. So, we’re trying to build something tight-knit here. We’re trying to build somewhat of a culture, I’d say, an identity, which is hard to do when you’re going through trials like this. But I feel like if we’re able to do that and forge it in this fire, we’ll come out stronger. That’s my goal through all this.”