Orioles common supervisor Mike Elias knowledgeable the media at this time that each left-hander John Means and right-hander Tyler Wells will bear elbow surgical procedure. Every participant shall be present process ulnar collateral ligament restore, although it’s not identified if both shall be full Tommy John surgical procedure or the interior brace different. In both case, each gamers are actually set to overlook the rest of the season. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was amongst these to relay the information on X.
It’s an unlucky double blow to the Baltimore rotation depth. The information on Means is especially heartbreaking as he simply received again from a prolonged Tommy John layoff not too way back. He went underneath the knife in April of 2022, lacking the vast majority of that season and a lot of the following season as nicely.
He did return to the mound late in 2023 however felt renewed elbow soreness. He was left off the membership’s playoff roster final yr and the O’s then tried to slow-play his ramp-up right here in 2024. He began the season on the injured listing and was reinstated firstly of Could, making 4 begins earlier than touchdown again on the IL with a left forearm pressure.
Now Means is ready for yet one more lengthy rehabilitation interval, which is able to embrace the rest of this season and sure a good chunk of 2025 as nicely. From 2019 to 2021, he was one of many few shiny spots for the membership throughout its rebuilding section. He tossed 345 1/3 innings in these three years, one in every of which was shortened by the pandemic, with a 3.73 ERA. However because of the elbow points, he’s solely thrown 52 1/3 innings over the previous three seasons and that quantity gained’t be going up now.
Along with giving Means one other big impediment to beat, this surgical procedure has the possibility to finish his tenure with the Orioles. He’ll cross six years of main league service time by season’s finish and is ready free of charge company this coming winter. At the moment, he shall be heading into his age-32 season with an unsure well being outlook after all of the aforementioned elbow work. Maybe he and the Orioles will work out a brand new contract to cowl his rehab interval, if each side have an interest, however he might additionally contemplate getting wholesome once more and earlier than showcasing himself for different golf equipment.
Wells, 29, landed on the injured listing in the course of April because of elbow irritation. It seems that the membership didn’t discover a lot success with no matter non-surgical choices it was exploring over the previous six weeks and in the end determined that surgical procedure was certainly needed.
The righty has a 4.06 ERA with the O’s because the begin of 2021, pitching each out of the rotation and out of the bullpen. He reached arbitration in the newest offseason as a Tremendous Two participant and is making $1.9625MM this yr. He can be in line for an additional cross by arbitration this winter however wouldn’t have the ability to get a giant elevate after lacking the overwhelming majority of the present marketing campaign. It’s additionally potential the O’s determine to non-tender Wells, given his upcoming rehab, although he’s additionally controllable by 2027 and continues to be optionable.
For the membership, this can considerably weaken their rotation depth for the rest of the yr. They at present have a beginning combine consisting of Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez, Cole Irvin and Albert Suárez, which is a stable group however one with query marks.
Bradish was recognized with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in February. He managed to return to the membership and has pitched nicely by a number of begins, although that was additionally the case for Means earlier than his elbow points returned. Suárez has a 1.53 ERA this yr however it’s his first MLB season since 2017. Irvin has a 2.84 ERA however with a low strikeout charge of 17.6%.
Even with out Means and Wells, reinforcements could possibly be coming from inside. Dean Kremer is on the injured listing however isn’t anticipated to be out an excessive amount of longer. Prospects Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott are each throwing nicely in Triple-A this yr.
The membership is 35-19 and comfortably in playoff place. Maybe they are going to use the approaching weeks and months to guage everybody in that group and see how issues look in the course of July, however it additionally appears truthful to count on the O’s to be exploring the commerce marketplace for beginning pitching this summer time.