Baltimore Orioles: John Means Gets One Last Shot At Boston Red Sox

John Means will make his final start as a rookie on Saturday against the Boston Red Sox. The Baltimore Orioles starter has had a lot of success against the divisional-rival this season.

It’s hard to believe, but the Baltimore Orioles have finally reached the final regular-season series of 2019. This year hasn’t always been fun or watchable, but it isn’t hard to find a list of positive storylines that came out of this campaign.

One of the most amazing stories to come out of the 2019 season is starting pitcher John Means. A non-prospect in the Orioles organization who most assumed would amount to just another 4-A type player in the system, Means unexpectedly made the Opening Day 25-man roster and has evolved into an All-Star talent and the lone reliable pitcher on this Baltimore Orioles roster.

Fans will get one last opportunity to watch Means work in 2019 as he takes on Jhoulys Chacin and the Boston Red Sox on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park. Of all the teams Means has seen multiple times in 2019, he’s had the most success against Boston and will look to dominate in his final outing and earn his first win at Fenway.

Overall, the 26-year-old lefty is 11-11 with a 3.54 ERA, a 1.13 WHIP, and has walked just 2.16 hitters per nine innings, the 18th-lowest mark among major league pitchers with at least 150 innings pitched. Fans wondered if he was a legitimate success story and if his changeup was the real deal and Means has answered both of those questions with an emphatic yes.

He has rebounded well from a tough stretch in July and August where he finished both months with an ERA above 5.00 and allowed opponents to hit .264 and .252, respectively. Astronomical numbers compared to his month-by-month results in every other month this season.

Through four September starts, John Means is 1-2 with a 3.51 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and a .233 average against. With a solid outing against Boston, Means could record his highest strikeout total for a single month. Currently at 17 punchouts (just four walks), he needs five more to break his monthly record of 21, which he set in August.

Odds are he will have a good day on Saturday against the defending World Series champions who find themselves in third place in the American League East and eliminated from playoff contention. It’s such an amazing feeling to know that we won’t have to suffer through unwatchable Red Sox playoff games.

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Means has made more starts against Boston than any other team this season, seeing the Red Sox four times in all, just once on the road at Fenway Park. He’s 2-1 with a 2.35 ERA and 1.00 WHIP, going at least five innings and limiting the Red Sox to two or fewer runs in each of his four starts. Through 23 innings, he owns a 10/5 K/BB ratio and has allowed only one ball to leave the yard. It’s been a solid year against a divisional foe for the rookie who will now attempt to close things out with one final big outing.

His lone start at Fenway came all the way back on April 14th. It was his fifth appearance of the year and his second start. Means gave up one run on four hits across five innings, walking one and striking out three. He was credited with the loss after his offense was unable to produce anything against David Price, who threw seven innings of shutout baseball, walking none and striking out seven.

While pitcher wins and losses may not mean much when it comes to evaluating success or failure, a winning record would look nice on the stat sheet for John Means as he puts a bow on a rookie season to remember. There aren’t a lot of things that bring a smile to an Orioles fan face when reminiscing on 2019, but the image of an opponent helplessly flailing at a John Means changeup sure does.

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