Top infield prospects Henderson, Westburg promoted
Triple-A Norfolk’s roster has lost a couple of the Orioles’ top prospects in recent weeks. The Tides are about to gain two more.
Infielders Gunnar Henderson and Jordan Westburg have been promoted from Double-A Bowie and will join Norfolk starting with its upcoming road series against Nashville. The pair of high draft picks — both were the Orioles’ second selection in their respective draft classes — has largely climbed up Baltimore’s system together. Henderson and Westburg, respectively ranked third and seventh among the organization’s prospects according to Baseball America, are two of the Orioles’ top three infield prospects, with High-A Aberdeen’s Coby Mayo between them at No. 5.
With the moves, seven of the Orioles’ top nine prospects are in Triple-A or the majors. That includes top prospect Adley
Rutschman, who was promoted from Triple-A to the majors for the first time last month, and Grayson Rodriguez, the sport’s top minor league pitcher who will be out until at least September with a Grade 2 lat muscle strain.
Henderson, 20, was Baltimore’s secondround pick in the 2019 draft after Rutschman was taken first overall. Even after striking out seven times against one walk in his final week with Bowie, Henderson walked more than he struck out for the Baysox despite never facing a pitcher younger than him.
Although he was three years younger than the average hitter in the league, Henderson posted a batting line of .312/.452/.573 — an OPS of 1.025 — for Bowie to go with eight home runs and 12 steals. He’ll be more than five years younger than the average International League position player; no players under 21 years old began the year in Triple-A leaguewide.
Drafted 30th overall in 2020, Westburg, 23, got off to a slow start in his second stint with Bowie but has been thriving of late. He’ll head up to Norfolk having hit .322 with a .967 OPS over his final 22 games with the Baysox. Overall, he hit .247/.345/.473 with nine home runs this year for Bowie.
Henderson and Westburg have spent much of their professional careers with the same affiliates, prompting their managers to divide the natural shortstops’ playing time at that position. With fellow highly ranked infielders Joey Ortiz and César Prieto also in Bowie, Henderson and Westburg spent most of their time at other infield spots. Henderson spent 27 games at third base compared to 18 at shortstop. Westburg played 16 games each at second and third to go along with 13 games at shortstop. Those versatile workloads figure to continue in Triple-A, where they are now one step from the major leagues.