John Means
The Baltimore Orioles are hoping to back up their 101-win 2023 season with another playoff campaign this year, and while they appear on track at this still-early stage, the team’s starting rotation has been dealt a major blow. On May 31, Orioles general manager Mike Elias announced that both left-handed pitcher John Means and right-handed pitcher Tyler Wells will undergo UCL surgery on their respective throwing arms, per Orioles on MASN, ruling them out for the rest of 2024 and the start of 2025.
“Both pitchers, after a lot of medical attention and diagnoses, were determined that they’re going to require a revision repair to their ulnar collateral ligaments,” Elias told reporters on May 31, per Orioles on MASN. “It’s a very unfortunate situation for us, for them. Tough news for everybody. But we’ll take great care of them and get them back to their skill levels in due time… But suffice it to say, they’re getting work done on their ligaments and that’s going to knock them out for the rest of this year.”
After 4 starts this season, Means is 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 16 strikeouts in 20.2 innings. He left his start against the St. Louis Cardinals on May 22 with left elbow discomfort, initially diagnosed as a forearm strain before receiving a second opinion.
Wells is 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and 13 strikeouts in 15.1 innings this season, and has been on the IL since April 12 with right elbow inflammation.
Mike Elias Remains Positive About Orioles’ Starting Rotation
Even after the news of Means and Wells being sidelined for the remainder of 2024, Elias said he still feels “pretty good” about the Orioles’ starting rotation depth.
“Fortunately, I think our staff did a good job finding a guy like [Albert] Suárez… and we have other pitchers in Triple-A that we’re looking at very closely and are poised to help this team,” Elias told reporters on May 31, per Orioles on MASN.
“Knock on wood, I still feel pretty good about the starting pitching options that we have at the moment, but we’ll obviously monitor things and continue to see what happens both internally and externally over the next couple of months before closing the book on our starting situation.”
With the loss of Means and Wells, the Orioles’ starting rotation looks as follows:
- Corbin Burnes
- Kyle Bradish
- Grayson Rodriguez
- Cole Irvin
- Albert Suárez
The Orioles acquired Burnes in an offseason trade with the Milwaukee Brewers, and after 12 starts this season, the ace has posted a 2.35 ERA and 1.05 WHIP with 71 strikeouts. Suárez is another new addition this season, having signed a minor-league deal with the Orioles in September 2023 before being added to the major-league roster on April 17. In 12 games (5 starts) this season, Suárez has a 1.52 ERA and 0.98 WHIP with 24 strikeouts.
Dean Kremer has been on the 15-day IL since May 24 with a right tricep strain, though Elias seemed positive about his return to the mound in the near future.
“Kremer has been out with the tricep strain, and it’s just an inflamed tricep muscle,” Elias said. “This is not something we’re worried about. He’s coming along and it’ll obviously take some time and might require some type of rehab appearance or two to get him back up here, but we expect him back and would not rule him out for the month of June.”
Orioles Not Ruling Out Trade Deadline Pitching Additions
The July 30 trade deadline just two months away, and with the Orioles’ recent injury woes, targeting an additional starting pitcher to add to the rotation certainly isn’t off the table.
“That’s something that’s just such a continuous monitoring situation, and everything is always developing this time of year,” Elias said on May 31. “We’re in contact with other teams, clearly, and monitoring what’s going on in the standings with the rest of the league.”
Still, Elias is confident the Orioles have internal depth that shouldn’t be ruled out.
“These injuries [to Means and Wells] are significant developments, obviously, but it’s not something that I think we need to address today to get another starting pitcher in the organization, and fortunately, we’ve got five guys up here playing pretty well,” Elias continued. “I don’t expect Kremer is going to be out too much longer. And we’ve got some guys in Triple-A who are starting to knock on the door. So all that’s good.”
“But gosh, it would be foolish for us to expect these to be our last pitching injuries, and there’s a lot of time left, so we’ll just see what happens.”