The Orioles had a third base plan in the weeks leading up to spring training. In the months. For however long that they felt comfortable with Jordan Westburg’s availability.

Westburg was limited to 85 games in 2025 due to a variety of injuries. Back soreness slowed him in spring training but he made the Opening Day roster. He missed six weeks with a left hamstring strain, a handful of games with a sprained left index finger and about a month with a right ankle sprain.

Right oblique soreness limited Westburg’s camp availability this spring, but the worst was coming. He felt discomfort in his right elbow while throwing, an MRI revealed a partial ulnar collateral ligament tear, a platelet-rich plasma injection didn’t work, and he underwent reconstructive surgery on May 13 in Los Angeles.

The plan at the hot corner went up in flames.

Coby Mayo started on Opening Day, changing positions again after moving to first base, and experienced some early difficulties in the field and at the plate. Blaze Alexander went from utility player to mostly regular duty out of need and because he began swinging the hottest bat on the team. Jackson Holliday’s return from hamate bone surgery made Alexander more available to play third.

The Orioles also tried Weston Wilson for 13 games, and they acquired Christian Encarnacion-Strand from the Reds on April 13 for cash considerations. That move was interesting only because of his previous prospect status and the longest name in history. The tiny lettering is barely readable on the plate above his locker.

They recalled Encarnacion-Strand from Triple-A Norfolk three months later, after Alexander was hit by a pitch and fractured his left hand. It seemed like an uneven swap given Alexander’s offensive production.

The 2026 season never has gone according to script. Why should this move?

Before last night’s game in Sacramento, Encarnacion-Strand was batting .273/.308/.527 with seven doubles, seven home runs and 27 RBIs in 32 games. He also had an 0.8 bWAR, compared to minus-0.6 last season in 36 games with the Reds.

A brief cooldown period is over. Encarnacion-Strand was hitless in his last 15 at-bats before arriving in St. Louis, where he went 8-for-14 with three doubles, a home run, five RBIs and five runs scored. His ninth-inning double Wednesday night broke a 7-7 tie, and his four hits matched his career high.

The eight hits were the most in a three-game span in his career. The 19 RBIs through his first 20 starts as an Oriole are the third-most in franchise history after Nelson Cruz (23 in 2014) and Trey Mancini (23 in 2016-17). He set a franchise-record with nine RBIs through his first six career games with the club.

“He’s mashing,” said a scout from another organization. “He’s probably feeling good about himself, he’s got confidence We use this slogan a lot, ‘change of scenery.’ Maybe something clicked when he got picked up by Baltimore. Maybe something clicked. Or he saw, ‘Hey, I’ve got to change.’ You never know, you just never know.”   

The Orioles used to have a left-hander problem. They couldn’t hit them. That’s changed with Encarnacion-Strand and Mayo doing extensive damage.

Encarnacion-Strand began last night hitting .325/.386/.750 with five homers in 45 plate appearances against lefties. Mayo belted a 446-foot, three-run homer Thursday and is slashing .307/.363/.746 with eight doubles and 14 homers in 124 plate appearances.

Mayo’s 14 homers against lefties tied him with Matt Olson for most in the majors. Gary Roenicke holds the club record with 18 in 1983, followed by Rafael Palmeiro with 15 in 1997 and 1998. Palmeiro hit 14 in 1995 and 1996.

Mayo led the majors last night with a .723 slugging percentage and 1.084 OPS against lefties in a minimum 100 plate appearances.

Alexander fulfilled his goal of returning from the injured list while the Orioles were in Sacramento. Otherwise, he was shooting for Denver or perhaps the Red Sox series at Camden Yards after roster expansion. He started at shortstop last night with Gunnar Henderson out of the lineup, but he seems more likely to play in the outfield because third base suddenly has become more crowded, and especially when the opponent starts a southpaw.

Encarnacion-Strand will be hard to budge against anyone, and that’s saying a lot about a player who cost the organization only a cash sum and spent three months in Triple-A before the Orioles called.

The Reds gave up on Encarnacion-Strand, a top 10 prospect before his major league debut in 2023. He hit .233 with a .679 OPS in 128 games over parts of three seasons. They traded him after he slashed .208/.234/.377 with six homers, three walks and 32 strikeouts in 36 games.

“The runway for some guys is longer than others,” said the opposing scout. “Some guys’ runways are Washington D.C. runways at the airport, and some guys’ runways are Charleston, West Virginia. They’re real short. And I don’t know why that is. Is it first impression to a big league manager or whatever?

“He’s got stupid power. I never heard anything negative on him, from work habits to whatever. It might be a situation too, this kid was going from first to third. He even played some outfield.

“I’m happy for the kid.”