Reaction on the Means news from Brandon Hyde and clubhouse

ANAHEIM, Calif. – The news of Orioles left-hander John Means needing Tommy John surgery became official today as announced by the pitcher himself via Twitter. But in the Orioles clubhouse, it’s clear some, maybe most of his teammates had advance warning.

Still that doesn’t make it easier to take when someone they see as not only the best pitcher on the staff but a leader too and a valued close friend is going to miss the rest of the season.

“It’s something that, it’s obviously a blow,” manager Brandon Hyde said in the Orioles dugout. “It’s a blow to John, to our club. Not going to have John for a while and John’s a big part of our pitching staff, a big part of our team. Injuries happen but I feel bad for John. Not only what he brings on the field, on the mound, but the leadership he brings to our clubhouse. It’s going to be tough without him. But we have to have guys step and take different roles.”

Hyde said there was no reason to have a team meeting or anything of that nature about this news or to try and have any special words for his players.

“No, I think we all are professionals and these things happen. Injuries are part of the game. You know we lost our opening day starter and that hurts and I think we’re all aware too that it was going to be an extended time he would be out. We need to get John healthy and ready for 2023.”

Even without the lefty, who has thrown just eight innings this season, the O’s staff has posted a 2.80 team ERA, the fifth-best in the majors. Starters have gone 11 straight games allowing two earned runs or fewer and with an ERA of 1.69 in that span.

For the first time since 1992, the O’s have pitched to a sub-3.00 ERA through their first 14 games of a season. And O’s pitchers have thrown 1,302 of 1,966 pitches for strikes, the highest percentage of strikes (66.2%) in MLB.

The Means situation, Hyde once again reiterated today, will not change the organization’s thinking or plans for its top minor league pitching prospects.

“No, I don’t think so. I’ve talked about it a lot. We’re not going to rush prospects. We’re going to do what’s right for them. We’re throwing the ball right now extremely well as a staff. Since John has been out, different guys have stepped up and we have to continue to do that,” said Hyde.

More clubhouse reaction about Means:

Left-hander Paul Fry on how Means is doing: “Great on the outside. I don’t know what he’s going through on the inside. Not really a whole lot of change in him. I know there were some emotions saying goodbye to him before this road trip. If anyone can go through it, he can go through it and come out stronger.

“It’s never good news to hear that. I think we all had an idea. Just talking with him, he’s positive. He’s going to get this done and going to come back stronger. … He’s the leader of the clubhouse, the leader of the pitchers and a great friend. You never want to see a great friend go through this. I know he’ll come back stronger.”

Outfielder Cedric Mullins: “It is definitely tough. We were hoping for the best. Not the news we were hoping for. He seems optimistic about getting the surgery done and coming back strong. He has a lot faith that this will continue to take strides forward. He’s awesome. Great clubhouse guy. Ideal competitor. To not have him will feel weird. When you are around a guy so long, we’ll try to keep morale up. He is such a huge part of this team.”

Right-hander Tyler Wells on Means impact with him: “He’s personally been one of the biggest influences for me. He showed me the ropes a lot last year. Any time I needed a conversation about pitching, about life, about adjusting to the major leagues, he’s meant a lot. It sucks. I don’t know if we will see him a whole lot or not, I hope we do. He is such a positive influence.

“I think all of us are pretty disappointed. Very upset hearing that news. That is a big blow, he’s such a big clubhouse guy and such a leader for all of us young pitchers. But hopefully this helps him out in the long run. The biggest thing is to get him healthy.”

Pitching coach Chris Holt: “For him, there is clarity now. You know he has a plan ahead at this point. Difficult to lose a guy of that caliber and what he means to this team but he’s doing the right thing right now.”

Last night, O's lefty Bruce Zimmermann extended his scoreless innings streak to 14 before allowing his first run of the year in the sixth inning. He became the fourth Orioles starting pitcher in team history to begin an MLB season with a scoreless streak of at least 14 innings and first since Orioles Hall of Famer Jim Palmer in 1978.  

Zimmermann now owns a 1.20 ERA (2 ER/15.0 IP) through his first three starts. The last O’s starter to pitch to an ERA of 1.20 or lower through the first three games of a season was Chris Tillman (0.84) in 2014 and the last lefty to do so was Jeff Ballard (1.17) in 1989.

At Bowie tonight, Akron right-hander Daniel Espino struck out the first 11 Baysox batters to start the game before Gunnar Henderson homered with two outs in the last of the fourth. Espino threw five innings, allowed two runs and fanned 14, getting all by one via a strikeout. As of publication time of this story, Akron led the Baysox 6-4 in the seventh inning.