{"id":101909,"date":"2025-06-10T19:52:27","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T23:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=101909"},"modified":"2025-06-10T19:52:27","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T23:52:27","slug":"orioles-activate-cedric-mullins-jordan-westburg-in-active-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/06\/10\/orioles-activate-cedric-mullins-jordan-westburg-in-active-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Orioles Activate Cedric Mullins, Jordan Westburg in Active Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/06\/09\/three-orioles-could-go-all-star-game-2025\/\" target=\"_self\">Baltimore Orioles<\/a> activated outfielder Cedric Mullins and infielder Jordan Westburg from the injured list on Tuesday. In a corresponding move, the team optioned struggling outfielder Heston Kjerstad back to Triple-A Norfolk and released infielder Emmanuel Rivera.<\/p>\n<p>Mullins and Westburg&#8217;s return from injury continues to add to the Orioles&#8217; list of reinforcements to their stagnant lineup. Meanwhile, Kjerstad&#8217;s demotion follows a disappointing 2025 campaign for the highly-touted prospect.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">We have made the following roster moves: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HbPJlyZyMP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/HbPJlyZyMP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Orioles\/status\/1932494892942700936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Cedric Mullins and Jordan Westburg Return for Orioles<\/h2>\n<p>Both players come back at a time when the team is looking to its offense to get itself back to .500. The team currently <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/mlb\/stats\/team\/_\/table\/batting\/sort\/OPS\/dir\/desc\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ranks<\/a> 22nd in batting average and 26th in on-base percentage. There are some bright spots, however, with the Orioles around the top half in home runs and slugging average.<\/p>\n<p>Mullins, albeit not spectacular, is the team&#8217;s best base stealer and a source of power in the <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mullice01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">lineup<\/a>. The 30-year-old veteran outfielder hit 10 home runs in 50 games this season while swiping eight bags, leading the team in both categories. His .324 OBP and .448 slugging is the best since his 2021 All-Star season.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_101914\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-101914\" style=\"width: 480px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-101914\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25946252_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"320\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25946252_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25946252_168400885_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25946252_168400885_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25946252_168400885_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25946252_168400885_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25946252_168400885_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/06\/USATSI_25946252_168400885_lowres.jpg 1800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-101914\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apr 12, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg (11) throws the ball to first base during the seventh inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/westbjo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Westburg<\/a> is one of the Orioles&#8217; younger stars, coming off an All-Star season in 2024. He had a slow start to the 2025 campaign, hitting a paltry .217\/.265\/.657 with four home runs and only drawing five walks. He did <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.milb.com\/player\/jordan-westburg-676059\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">play<\/a> very well on his rehab assignment, hitting .393\/.452\/1.202 with two home runs over eight games.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">That&#8217;s not fair, these guys are big leaguers!<\/p>\n<p>Rehabbing <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Orioles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Orioles<\/a> Jordan Westburg and Gary Sanchez go back-to-back for the <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NorfolkTides?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NorfolkTides<\/a> during their rehab assignments. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HmQZv1CiJF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/HmQZv1CiJF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MiLB\/status\/1930761088238338383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Kjerstad&#8217;s Underwhelming Performance<\/h3>\n<p>The 26-year-old outfielder&#8217;s 2025 season has been abysmal, to say the least. In 54 games, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kjershe01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kjerstad<\/a> hit .192\/.240\/.566 with only four home runs and drawing only six walks to 45 strikeouts. In fact, he walked at a far lower clip than he did in 2024, walking 10 times in 39 games last year.<\/p>\n<p>The outfielder&#8217;s struggles could be attributed to a <a  href=\"https:\/\/baseballsavant.mlb.com\/savant-player\/heston-kjerstad-677008?stats=statcast-r-hitting-mlb\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">decrease<\/a> in bat speed, declining from 73 mph in 2023 to 69 mph in 2025. His chase rate is one of the worst in the league, while his whiff rate is in the bottom quarter of the league. In most measured metrics, Kjerstad ranked in the bottom half from barrels to exit velocity. He&#8217;ll have enough time to figure out his swing in Norfolk.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Baltimore Orioles activated outfielder Cedric Mullins and infielder Jordan Westburg from the injured list on Tuesday. In a corresponding move, the team optioned struggling outfielder Heston Kjerstad back to Triple-A Norfolk and released infielder Emmanuel Rivera. Mullins and Westburg&#8217;s return from injury continues to add to the Orioles&#8217; list of reinforcements to their stagnant [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5304,"featured_media":101913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,1071,35],"tags":[5113,3640,2513,3716],"class_list":["post-101909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-orioles","category-mlb","category-news","tag-cedric-mullins","tag-heston-kjerstad","tag-injured-list","tag-jordan-westburg"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5304"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101909"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101909\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":101915,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101909\/revisions\/101915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}