It’s supposed to be a joyous day for baseball fans. Grapefruit League action starts today, with the O’s hosting the New York Yankees at Ed Smith Stadium. Following player reporting to camp, it’s the next occasion we mark on our calendars as we tick off the cold, dreary winter days before hope once again spring eternal.
Trevor Rogers, the incredible surprise of 2025, is taking the mound looking to build off his nearly-Cy-Young worthy campaign. Gunnar Henderson hopes to bounce back from an injury-dampened season to get back into the MVP conversation. Adley Rutschman’s career is on the brink: is he the franchise face he looked to be, or the disappointment that the last season and a half has shown? Can Samuel Basallo live up to the hype?
So much to talk about on the field.
But, since we’re Orioles fans and can’t have nice things, we can’t even get to the good stuff without a big ol’ helping of crushing disappointment first.
Orioles President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias addressed the media this morning, giving us an on infielder Jordan Westburg that, so far, isn’t as bad as we suspected.
Elias told the assembled media that Westy has a partial tear of his UCL (elbow), for which he will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection (PRP), not surgery…for the time being. He will be out through at least April, and after that, who knows?
Evidently, Westy’s UCL tear is a chronic issue, not something that he suddenly injured while rehabbing the oblique. Two doctors agreed that PRP is the way to go.
Elias said Westburg’s partial UCL tear was deemed a chronic issue, meaning it broke down over time.
Westburg reported elbow pain to team that persisted longer than in past years.
That makes sense considering it’s difficult to imagine an acute injury while rehabbing an oblique.
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) February 20, 2026
We O’s fans know all about these PRP injections and how often they’re complete miracles. Dylan Bundy and Kyle Bradish say hello.
But hey, maybe it will work better on a position player?
Regardless, we’ll once again hope for the best and expect the worst. And we’ll watch Coby Mayo turn into a serviceable third baseman? Pretty please?
