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Orioles pitching injury woes continue as yet another starter lands on Injured List

Another Orioles rotation member is headed for the injured list with few options to replace him.
Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Birds Watcher

Arizona Diamondbacks v Baltimore Orioles / Greg Fiume/GettyImages

Clearly there were too many people saying that the Baltimore Orioles' rotation was finally getting healthy, because the jinx has been in full effect this week. On Thursday, the Orioles got the unfortunate news that John Means was going on the IL with another forearm injury, which felt like a brutal blow, given his struggles with the same type of injury earlier in the season (and recent Tommy John recovery). Sadly, the bad news did not end there.

So far in 2024, Dean Kremer had avoided the injury bug that Means, Kyle Bradish, and Grayson Rodriguez have all battled. While his 4.32 ERA in nine starts hasn't been all that exciting, he has been giving Baltimore consistent innings, which is more than some of their guys can say this season. Sadly, Kremer's run of luck ran out on Friday as he was placed on the Injured List with a triceps strain.

Orioles News: Dean Kremer heads to IL, Baltimore recalls Dillon Tate and Nick Vespi

The biggest news for Kremer here is that a triceps strain (or any sort of strain in a pitcher's arm) can be a sign of large issues. The moves the Orioles made on Friday don't reflect the team's rotation plans going forward, nor do they reflect the fear that they might have to make a long-term replacement. Neither Dillon Tate nor Nick Vespi should factor into the rotation; both will be used as bullpen reinforcements. As for Heasley being optioned, calling him up was never a great idea, and that manifested when he very nearly threw the game against the White Sox on Thursday.

Going forward, the Orioles are going to have to come to grips with the fact that they could be without two of their rotation arms for a while -- especially Means, given that this is his second arm injury this year and Baltimore will, at best, be cautious with him. Fans should expect the Orioles to make another roster move, at least before Means' turn in the rotation comes back around. One can only hope that Cade Povich is in the conversation for a call-up, because the short-term solutions are pretty grim.

More Orioles News from Birds Watcher

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.