Orioles lose John Means, Tyler Wells to UCL Surgery

Orioles lose John Means, Tyler Wells to UCL Surgery

The Baltimore Orioles have been one of the most fun teams in baseball this year. Unfortunately, the O’s season will have to continue without starting pitchers John Means and Tyler Wells.

Orioles general manager Mike Elias informed the media that both pitchers will undergo elbow surgery. Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com was among the first to break the news.

It’s still unknown if it’ll be the full Tommy John surgery or the internal brace alternative. Either way, it’s an absolutely brutal blow to the Orioles and the two pitchers.

Both pitchers have already had Tommy John before, making it more difficult to come back from. Means went through Tommy John for the first time back in April of 2022. After a lengthy rehabilitation process, he came back in September of 2023. He made four starts before his elbow pain returned and shut him down.

Means spent the first month of this season on the IL. He made his first start of the season against the Reds on May 4, throwing seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts. Means would only make three more starts however, being taken out of his start against the Cardinals just a week ago.

He also threw the Orioles’ first no-hitter since 1969 back in 2021. It seemed like the Orioles had an ace in the making, but his future is dim at age 31 with two UCL injuries.

For Wells, he underwent Tommy John back in 2019 while in the minors. He was placed on the IL with elbow inflammation back in April, and the soreness just never improved.

Means went 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and 16 strikeouts in 20 innings this year. Wells went 0-2 with a 5.87 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and 13 strikeouts in 15 innings.

The Orioles are only two games out of first place for the AL East, but the front office will have work to do to fix its rotation.

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