Westburg, Henderson and Mayo staying on course toward majors

The Orioles' fall instructional league camp is an interesting mix of top prospects, ballyhooed international signings and trade acquisitions, and players who began to get noticed and want to keep improving their stock.

What's missing are the intrasquad games. It's more about workouts, conditioning and strength, education and bonding.

Infield prospect Jordan Westburg describes it as "a good foundation for all of us guys that are young in this organization, just building relationships."

"For most of us, we're just doing a lot of lifting, we're cleaning up some deficiencies that all of us have in our movements and our bodies," he said during yesterday's Zoom call. "So it's a lot of lifting, some running mixed in there. We just started hitting a week ago. And there are certain guys who are in different programs. Some guys are hitting more, some guys are hitting less. The pitchers are just tossing the rock again.

"This is more just getting back into the weight room, kind of correcting our bodies after a long, tough season."

Westburg is counted among 19 players on MLBPipeline.com's organizational top 30 prospects list. He's ranked seventh after the Orioles used the 30th overall pick on him in 2020 and gave him a $2.3 million bonus.

Seventeen players from the last draft are in camp.

"Obviously, me getting to meet the new guys from the 2021 draft class is pretty cool," Westburg said. "Just building those relationships is only going to help us in the future."

So is pairing Westburg with Gunnar Henderson, 20, the No. 4 prospect who arrived in the second round in 2019. They could form the double play combination for many years to come, especially if Coby Mayo, a fourth-rounder in 2020, is playing third base and crushing baseballs.

"I didn't really know him before I got with the Orioles," Westburg said of Henderson. "I heard a lot of stories, I've heard a lot of great things about him. And the relationship that I got to build with him over the year, those great things really stand out. You don't really ever hear anything bad about Gunnar. He's a great kid. Still very young and he's learning every day.

"It's pretty special to see somebody with his talent level at the age he is. You just see it every day. He has that will to get better, he has that competitive fire in him. And if he had a bad game the night before, he's coming back and he's going to get after it the next day, and I think that's exactly how you have to carry yourself, especially at a young age. And he gets it.

"I'm sure that you'll be hearing a lot more of his name in the next few years."

Westburg and Henderson played at three levels this summer, beginning at low Single-A Delmarva and finishing with Double-A Bowie. Westburg joined the Baysox about a month before Henderson, who's two years younger.

"I'm just trying to improve every facet of my game," Westburg said. "I can always be better in every area. You're never going to be perfect, and as long as I'm getting one percent better every day, I feel like I'm going to put myself in a good position going into spring training (next) year, so that's all I'm really focused on."

Henderson slashed a combined .258/.350/.476 in his second pro season, with 28 doubles, four triples, 17 home runs and 74 RBIs in 463 plate appearances. His average dipped to .230 in 65 games with high Single-A Aberdeen, where he began 1-for-31, though he posted a .343 OBP with the IronBirds.

"I felt like it was a great year for development," he said yesterday. "Going through high school to the first year of pro ball in the GCL, didn't really have that long struggle period and I felt like going through that struggle period really just helped my development because I was able to learn how to go through it and ultimately learn how to handle it a little bit better, and also be able to get through it a little bit quicker for the next time."

The camaraderie in camp is something that the young players hope will continue with the Orioles. That they're in the next wave that crashes into Camden Yards.

"Being able to be with these guys, we all have the same goal in mind," Henderson said. "There hasn't been anybody who hasn't been friendly or been a great teammate so far. Just getting to meet all the next draft guys here at instructs, all of them are great guys. We've formed really good relationships in only the two weeks that we've been here so far. With Westburg and Adley (Rutschman), I feel like I've made really good friends with them and, honestly, lifelong friends."

"We're trying to win a World Series here with the Orioles," Westburg said. "The big league club has been struggling the past few years. I don't think that's any secret. But we have a lot of talent in the minors, in the farm system, and if we can just have a lot of guys come together as, like, a tight-knit group, move up together and hopefully make an impact at the big league level in a few years, I feel like we'll have a really good opportunity to make a playoff push and, hopefully, win a World Series."

Westburg isn't calculating his distance to the majors after batting a combined .285/.389/.479 with 27 doubles, five triples, 15 home runs and 79 RBIs in 506 plate appearances in his first professional season.

"I can't really tell," he said. "I'm not really focused on that right now. I know that I'll probably start off at Double-A again, and all I can focus on is just one game and one day at a time. Right now we're in the offseason, so there's no games to focus on, so I'm just trying to improve every facet of my game. That way, come spring training I can put myself in a good position to, hopefully, move up quickly again and hopefully make an impact at the big league level whenever I can."

The minor league season, delayed for Westburg after the cancellation in 2020 due to COVID-19, "went smoothly," he said, and was "a lot of fun."

Not for the pitchers trying to get him out.

"I think I speak for everybody when I say, just being able to be back on the field was special," he said. "You can tell a lot of guys played with a little more emotion than they might have, just because a whole year and a half sitting out kind of wrecked a lot of guys' plans, and for them to have that opportunity to get back on the field, it was awesome."

How is Westburg a different player in one year? Well, he's improved, which also should create anxiety for opposing pitchers.

"I think I made huge jumps this year," he said. "At instructs, that was my first taste of pro ball. I was coming right off that COVID shutdown, so while I had a good instructs, I feel like this season, the more you play the better you're going to get. Repetitions are probably the best way of learning this game, and I just feel like I'm better in all facets from playing 120 games."

Westburg and Henderson eventually will spend a season together trying to play closer to 162. The shortstop and second baseman, most likely, though they're capable of moving around the infield.

Being next to Westburg this year provided its own learning experience for Henderson.

"Just being able to have a good routine, like taking care of your business and letting, honestly, the work that you put in speak for itself," Henderson said, "because the work you put in is ultimately the results you'll get out."

Henderson made 61 starts at shortstop in 2021 and 35 at third base. He played five innings at second base with Aberdeen and took some fly balls last year in the instructional camp. Scouts are curious whether he "outgrows" shortstop and switches to third. In the meantime, he'll gladly move around and gain experience at multiple positions, though he's most comfortable at short.

"Everything helps out, the more versatile you can be," he said. "It also helps the position that you are normally playing. So I feel like it helps. It's fun to be able to just try to play another position and see how it plays out. I've enjoyed it. I don't have any problems with it."

The risk of moving to third base is bumping into Mayo, the No. 10 prospect in Baseball America's latest rankings who played in the Florida Complex League and with Delmarva this summer and batted .319/.426/.555 with 14 doubles, a triple, nine home runs and 41 RBIs in 216 plate appearances.

Mayo won't turn 20 until December. His power causes eyes to bulge and jaws to drop to the floor.

His exit velocity readings get passed around like notes in a classroom.

"I think some of my higher ones this season were 111, 112 (mph), but I think that was the max. I don't think I can do that every at-bat," he said.

He's modest, too,.

"I think I hit a home run like 108, 109, but we really preach here hitting the ball hard and keeping it in the air, because that gives you the best shot for creating more runs. So that's what we've been working on here. I'm happy to see that's gone onto the field and into the games," Mayo said.

"I don't really think about it, honestly. When we're hitting BP, we have a focus of hitting the ball hard in the air, and the more we practice that every day on the field, the easier it gets to do when we're playing. So I don't really focus on the numbers during the game. We focus on just hitting the ball hard in the air and give us the best shot to win games."

The tweaking done with Mayo since the draft has enabled him to better swing at his pitches and avoid putting balls in play that aren't in his hot zone.

"I'm just trying to find pitches that I can hit hard in the air. Just trying to do that, execute the plan," he said.

"I don't think it's really beneficial for me and for the team if I swing at pitches out of my zone, just hit ground balls. I think it's more beneficial if I can find my pitch and hit hard balls in the air."