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Orioles fans will be devastated after learning of John Means’ injury diagnosis

Baltimore's rotation took a massive hit on Friday with the announcement of multiple season-ending injuries.
Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Birds Watcher

Seattle Mariners v Baltimore Orioles / Mitchell Layton/GettyImages

Baltimore Orioles fan have been waiting (somewhat) patiently for news on the injuries that have beset their pitching staff. John Means had to go on the injured list for the second time this year with elbow troubles, joining Tyler Wells, who has been out since the middle of April with his own arm issues.

When it was revealed that Orioles general manager Mike Elias was going to be making a media appearance on Friday afternoon, that is generally never a good sign.

However, few were prepared for the news that Means and Wells are going to be out for the season as both pitchers need surgeries to repair their elbows.

Orioles News: John Means, Tyler Wells need elbow surgery and are out for all of 2024

To be fair, we don't know exactly what kind of surgeries Means and Wells are going to have. There is, of course, good ol' fashioned Tommy John surgery, as well as less invasive, but still season-ending, brace procedure that can be done these days depending on the situation. What we do know is that the Orioles are going to be without both players for the rest of 2024, and that is far from ideal.

And fans are especially feeling for Means, who has pitched in just 10 games since the start of 2022 has he has battled countless injuries.

With both Means and Wells out, Baltimore's trade deadline plans become even more focused as they face a pretty serious pitching shortage at the moment. They certainly have some internal starting options, as Albert Suarez is a fan favorite and Cade Povich is sitting down at Triple-A with a 2.35 ERA. However, it is probably fair to guess that, as the deadline nears, the Orioles are going to be pushing hard to add some arms, both in the rotation and in the bullpen, with Friday's news.

If there is a silver lining, it is that Baltimore has had some time to get used to not having Means and Wells healthy. Means was out for a big chunk of time to start the season and Wells hasn't played since April. That said, it is one thing to make things work for a short IL stint, and it is another thing to completely remake your rotation for the rest of the season.

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Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.