Right-hander Félix Bautista (right shoulder surgery) and catcher Gary Sánchez (right knee sprain) were transferred to the 60-day IL to create room on the 40-man roster.
Young became the 28th Orioles player to hit the injured list this season. Westburg was previously on the IL due to a left hamstring strain from April 27-June 10. There are currently 14 players on Baltimore’s big league IL.
Westburg, who went on the 10-day IL, isn’t expected to miss much time. The 26-year-old rolled his ankle during Monday’s win in Boston, and the O’s remained hopeful in recent days that he could avoid the injured list.
However, Westburg didn’t progress enough this week for the Orioles to continue playing a man down during the current homestand against the Astros and Red Sox.
“He was playing catch and it was just a little bit sore,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “It’s your right foot, so just think about it — a right-handed hitter standing in the box, your back foot, how it’s going to rotate and pivot. Same with throwing. As he throws, a little bit sore, which didn’t lend itself well to taking swings in a big league game. We will be very conservative there.
“I think if it’s Sept. 20 and we’re playing for the pennant, knowing Westy, he’s probably going to be on the field. But I just think with the situation we’re in, this is probably the right thing to do for our player.”
Although Baltimore (59-68) has had a disappointing season, Westburg has played well during his third MLB campaign. The 2024 All-Star is hitting .276 with nine doubles, one triple, 15 home runs, 34 RBIs and a .799 OPS over 73 games.
In Westburg’s absence, the O’s will utilize Luis Vázquez, Jeremiah Jackson and Machín at third.
As for Young, his timeline for a return could be longer. The 27-year-old strained his left hamstring while covering first base on a groundout during the sixth inning of Thursday’s loss to the Astros — during which Young allowed a career-high-tying seven runs over 5 1/3 innings.
Young has a 6.24 ERA over the first 12 starts of his rookie season, but he came within four outs of a perfect game last Friday in Houston, where he retired 24 of 25 Astros batters while tossing eight scoreless innings with only one hit allowed.
“My guess is we’re not going to see him anytime soon,” Mansolino said.
The Orioles’ rotation is down to four starters — right-handers Tomoyuki Sugano and Dean Kremer and lefties Trevor Rogers and Cade Povich. However, righty Kyle Bradish (Tommy John surgery) is scheduled to return next week, while righty Tyler Wells (UCL repair surgery) should be back by the first week of September (if not earlier).
