Baltimore Orioles Rookies Already Dominating Early-Season Awards
A Baltimore Orioles rookie won AL Player of the Week honors for the second straight week.
The Baltimore Orioles are loaded with young stars, so it's not surprising to see them already bringing home some hardware.
Last week, Orioles rookie Colton Cowser was named AL Player of the Week for April 8-14. Not to be outdone, his teammate Jordan Westburg followed him up by winning the weekly award as well, earning it for April 15-21.
Westburg helped Baltimore go 5-1 last week, overcoming the team's poor bullpen performance with his impressive offense. The 25-year-old rookie hit safely in all six games last week, going 11-for-23 with two doubles, two home runs and a triple. He knocked in eight runs, scored five and slashed .478/.500/.913.
Coming on the heels of Cowser's big week (four homers, 12 RBIs, 1.612 OPS), Westburg helped the Orioles improve to 14-7, putting them just a half-game behind the New York Yankees in the AL East standings to start the week.
A former first-round draft pick, Westburg has come on strong after a sluggish start to the season that saw him bat .194/.242/.355 through his first nine games. He's now hit safely in nine straight games entering play on Monday and is up to .333/.392/.639 with five homers and 18 RBIs in 20 games this season. Meanwhile, his 203 OPS+ leads the American League.
The early success of Westburg and Cowser has fueled Baltimore's dynamic offense, which leads the AL in homers, slugging percentage, OPS and total bases. The hot-hitting rookies have also helped mitigate slow starts by Austin Hays and Jackson Holliday, both of whom have struggled to get going at the plate.
If their rookies keep hitting like this, the Orioles are going to be a run-scoring machine this season.
