O's lose Means, Wells to season-ending UCL surgeries

BALTIMORE -- Over the past few weeks, the Orioles’ starting pitching landscape was seemingly getting a bit crowded. They were finally close to full strength, sparking internal conversations about shifting to a six-man rotation at some point in June.

On Friday, Baltimore’s pitching staff was dealt a pair of big blows that could alter those plans.

Left-hander John Means and right-hander Tyler Wells will both undergo surgeries to repair the UCLs in their respective throwing arms, general manager Mike Elias announced before the series opener vs. the Rays at Camden Yards. Both pitchers will be out for the rest of 2024.

It isn’t yet known whether Means and/or Wells will have Tommy John reconstructive surgery, which each has previously had (Wells in May 2019; Means in April '22). That will be determined when each goes in for his procedure.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation for us, for them. Tough news for everybody,” Elias said. “But we’ll take great care of them and get them back to their skill levels in due time.”

Not this season, though, which leaves the O’s rotation picture looking like this:

1. RHP Corbin Burnes
2. RHP Kyle Bradish
3. RHP Grayson Rodriguez
4. LHP Cole Irvin
5. RHP Albert Suárez

Dean Kremer (right triceps strain) is on the injured list, but Elias didn't rule out a return before the end of June. Meanwhile, top pitching prospects Chayce McDermott (Orioles’ No. 8 per MLB Pipeline) and Cade Povich (No. 9) are close to earning their first big league callups.

Entering Friday, Baltimore’s 3.03 rotation ERA was tied for third best in MLB -- despite only seven combined starts from Means and Wells and IL stints for Kremer, Bradish (a right UCL sprain to open the season) and Rodriguez (right shoulder inflammation in late April/early May).

“Knock on wood, I still feel pretty good about the starting pitching options that we have at the moment,” Elias said.

At the same time, the defending American League East champion Orioles are 35-19 and again in the thick of the postseason hunt. They’re eyeing a deeper run through October after getting swept by the Rangers in last year’s AL Division Series.

So they’re likely going to target pitching help ahead of the July 30 Trade Deadline.

“We’ve got to see how the whole market evolves, and then we’re also monitoring our own developments internally in the Minors and so forth,” Elias said. “These injuries 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. ...

“But gosh, it would be foolish to expect these to be our last pitching injuries, and there’s a lot of time left. So we’ll just see what happens.”

A six-man rotation could still be a possibility for the O’s -- who play 30 games over the next 31 days -- but it won’t include Means or Wells, two popular figures in the clubhouse in recent years.

“It’s really disappointing,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Two guys you really pull for; we were hoping for better news. I’m disappointed for them, personally, to not be able to pitch for us this year and be with us.”

Wells owns a 4.06 ERA in 95 career games (46 starts) for the Orioles from 2021-24. His best showing came in '23 when he posted a 3.64 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in 25 games (20 starts) while helping the team win its first division crown since '14.

Wells had a 5.87 ERA in three starts this season before he landed on the IL on April 16 (retroactive to April 13). The 29-year-old was rehabbing at the O’s facilities in Sarasota, Fla., where he started to throw earlier this week and continued to experience discomfort, per Elias.

Means, a 2019 All-Star, had a 3.73 ERA in 67 games (63 starts) over his first three full big league seasons from 2019-21. He made only two starts in '22, before undergoing Tommy John surgery that April.

Although Means returned to Baltimore in September, he never fully overcame his elbow/forearm ailments. He made four starts before a flare-up caused the 31-year-old to miss the postseason. That also delayed his start to the 2024 season, which he began on the IL before recording a 2.61 ERA in four starts earlier this month.

Now, there’s uncertainty regarding the future for Means, who has made only 10 MLB appearances since the beginning of 2022 and will be a free agent this offseason.

“The first step is taking care of this, and we’re going to support him. We have a long relationship, and he’s a special member of this organization, just given everything that he’s done,” Elias said of Means, who threw the sixth no-hitter in O’s history on May 5, 2021, at Seattle.

“I’m sure we’ll be dialoguing with him as we get him back up on his feet medically. He’s going to make it back. He’s a big, strong guy. And once he gets this elbow injury fully behind him -- which hasn’t really been the case, it seems like, going back the last year -- I think he’s got a lot of really good pitching ahead of him.”