Jamie Westbrook

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Jamie Vaughn Westbrook

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Biographical Information[edit]

Infielder Jamie Westbrook reached the majors in 2024, over a decade after having been drafted.

Westbrook was a fifth-round pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2013 amateur draft; the scout was Doyle Wilson. [1]. He spent most of the summer with the AZL Diamondbacks (.292/.373/.468, 8 31, 31 R in 40 G) and moved up to the Missoula Osprey (.254/.315/.343 in 17 G). He led the Arizona League in triples (two ahead of Aristides Aquino, Cody Bellinger, Franchy Cordero and Brandon Dulin). Despite joining the franchise in mid-season, he still tied Chris Owings for 3rd in the Diamondbacks chain in triples, one behind Socrates Brito and Justin Greene.

He moved up to the South Bend Silver Hawks in 2014, fielding .956 at 2B and hitting 27 doubles with a .259/.314/.375 batting line. He was 10th in the Arizona farm system in runs (69) and was 9th in doubles, between Stryker Trahan and Nick Ahmed. In '15, he batted .319/.357/.510 with the Visalia Rawhide with 75 runs, 33 doubles, 17 home runs, 72 RBI and 14 steals in 18 tries. He was 4th in the California League in average (between James Ramsay and Royce Bolinger), tied A.J. Reed for 10th in runs and tied for 7th in doubles (with Bellinger among others). Among Arizona's minor leaguers, he was 7th in runs, 4th in hits (153), 7th in doubles (between Kevin Cron and Todd Glaesmann), tied Nick Evans and Strahan for 8th in home runs and 7th in RBI. He was named the league's All-Star second baseman, joining Reed, Christian Arroyo and Ryan McMahon on the infield. [2]

Jamie spent the winter with the Sydney Blue Sox, hitting .299/.333/.346. He slipped at the plate with the 2016 Mobile BayBears (.262/.312/.349) but fielded .980 at second. He began seeing action in left field with the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, batting .233/.303/.300 while backing up Christin Stewart. He spent most of 2017 with the Jackson Generals (.265/.305/.395) with the brief stint with the AZL Diamondbacks, presumably on a rehab split. He split time between left field and second base with Jackson, being the team's most-used player at each position.

2018 was also spent mostly with Jackson, where he improved to .287/.336/.471 with 15 homers and 68 RBI. He also got his first taste of AAA, with a .391/.440/.957 slash line, six runs and six RBI in seven games (four homers!) for the Reno Aces. He tied Kristopher Negron for 5th on the Arizona farm in runs (71), was 4th in home runs and 4th in RBI. He split 2019 between Jackson (.269/.340/.447 in 98 G) and Reno (.321/.413/.462 in 30 G), scoring 76 runs with 26 doubles, 16 home runs and 77 RBI while registering 14 outfield assists. In the Arizona minor league system, he tied Wyatt Mathisen and Alek Thomas for 7th in runs, tied for 4th in doubles, was 10th in home runs and tied Domingo Leyba for 4th in RBI. Despite his continued solid production, he was clearly treading water organizationally, with three straight seasons mostly in AA.

That winter, he struggled at .222/.271/.267 for the Mayos de Navojoa. When the 2020 minor league season was canceled by the COVID-19 pandemic, he joined one of the few independent teams in operation, the Sugar Land Lightning Sloths, and hit .294/.347/.553 with 18 RBI in 27 games. The Milwaukee Brewers gave him a chance for 2021 and he was having an excellent time in AAA when he was named to the US team for the Tokyo Olympics. [3] He started five of the team's six games and homered off Eui-lee Lee in the semifinal win over South Korea as part of the Silver Medal-winning squad. He hit .182/.182/.318. [4] He finished at .287/.353/.486 with 47 RBI and 11 homers in 70 games for the Nashville Sounds but did not get the call to the majors and would not for another three years.

He began 2022 well with Nashville (5-for-10, 2B, BB) and was dealt to the Detroit Tigers for cash. He slipped to .248/.349/.377 the rest of the way for the Toledo Mud Hens; at age 27, the versatile defensive player's hopes of the majors were going down. He was next signed by the New York Yankees and had a very good 2023 with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders at .294/.400/.496 with 21 homers. He was 9th in the Yankees chain with 70 runs, 6th in homers, tied Elijah Dunham and Omar Martinez for 4th in walks (67) and had the best OBP of anyone with 400+ PA.

His long-awaited major league debut came on June 2, 2024, playing for the Boston Red Sox. He entered a game against the Detroit Tigers as a pinch-hitter for Wilyer Abreu in the 9th inning and drew a walk against Andrew Chafin but was stranded. He then stayed in the game as Boston's right fielder, but Detroit scored 4 times in the top of the 10th to win the game, 8-4. He had been called up from the AAA Worcester Red Sox that same day after Vaughn Grissom was injured. He had signed with Boston as a free agent the previous December and was hitting .267 in 50 games at the time of his call-up.

Sources[edit]

  1. ↑ 2019 Diamondbacks Media Guide, pg. 222
  2. ↑ 2016 Baseball Almanac, pg. 377
  3. ↑ Team USA
  4. ↑ 2020 Olympics

Further Reading[edit]

  • Ian Browne: "Westbrook feeling 'a lot of gratitude' after Major League debut", mlb.com, June 2, 2024. [1]

Related Sites[edit]

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