Means and Wells undergoing elbow surgery (updated)

The Orioles are losing two projected starting pitchers for the rest of the 2024 season, presenting more challenges for the rotation and perhaps altering trade plans near or at the deadline.

John Means and Tyler Wells will undergo season-ending elbow surgery within the next few days, according to executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias, who met with the media earlier today in the dugout. Both procedures are to repair the ulnar collateral ligament, and whether it’s Tommy John will be determined later.

The surgeries also will sideline them at the beginning of 2025.

"Both pitchers, after a lot of medical attention and diagnoses, were determined that they're going to require a revision repair to their ulnar collateral ligaments," Elias said. "It's a very unfortunate situation for us, for them. Tough news for everybody. But we'll take great care of them and get them back to their skill level in due time."

The ultimate solution to the injuries isn't discovered until the surgeries begin, which could lead to differing time frames.

"But suffice it to say, they're getting work done on their ligaments and that's going to knock them out for the rest of this year," Elias said.

"This is tough news for both of these guys. They've got a lot of time and work ahead of them now and rehabbing is very lonely. It's a lot different than playing up here every day. It's not something that you want to see anybody who plays this game go through, but it's, unfortunately, a big part of being a pitcher right now, and they're both really tough guys who have overcome this before and they both have youth on their side. I'm optimistic for both of them."

Means underwent Tommy John surgery in late April 2022 and had his return in 2023 delayed by a strained muscle in his upper back, which happened during a workout. He made four starts in September, carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning in Cleveland, but couldn’t pitch in the Division Series due to a strained left forearm suffered while facing hitters in a simulated game at Camden Yards.

The delay in his offseason throwing program prompted his move to the 15-day injured list on Opening Day. He wasn’t hurt, but being behind the other starters removed his chances of hopping back into the rotation.

The 2024 debut came on May 4 in Cincinnati, and Means posted a 2.61 ERA in four starts covering 20 2/3 innings. However, he lasted only three shutout innings on May 22 in St. Louis because of discomfort in the elbow – the rain delay wasn’t impacting whether he returned for the fourth – and he sought a second opinion after undergoing an MRI in Baltimore.

The cruel blows keep landing flush.

"Really, really tough, especially in his case, the timing of when he got hurt, the team getting to where he's gotten while he was out, the contributions that he's made even sporadically in the last six months," Elias said. "You think of him coming in, especially that start in Cleveland when we were kind of reeling, I felt like he saved our division title with that outing he had in Cleveland. And he pitched well this year. It's a tough loss. It would have been enormously exciting for everybody to have full John Means back, but this is a tough line of work and there are a lot of pitching injuries right now. It's no secret. So it's unfortunate for him, but he's a really tough guy. This is not career-ending. We're going to get him back in good shape. But this surgery takes time."

"You saw the work that he put in going into last year and finishing the season so strong for us and pitched so well down the stretch," said manager Brandon Hyde. "It was incredibly rewarding for him, but also to watch what guys go through that have missed a significant amount of time, it's tough, mentally. True adversity. It's hard to deal with. To see him go through all that, pitch really well toward the end of the year for us, his season got delayed this year a little bit, and then have this happen now, it's incredibly disappointing."

Means, 31, is a free agent after the season, further clouding his future in Baltimore and in baseball. He signed a two-year, $5.925 million contract in May 2022 and avoided arbitration in January by agreeing to a $3.325 million deal.

"I think the first step is taking care of this and we're going to support him and we have a long relationship and he's a special member of this organization, just given everything that he's done," Elias said. "Obviously, we talk a lot, so I'm sure we'll be dialoging with him as we get him back on his feet medically. He's going to make it back. He's a big, strong guy, and once he gets this elbow injury fully behind him - which hasn't really been the case, it seems like, going back into last year - I think he's got a lot of really good pitching ahead of him."

Wells trained over the winter to stay healthy and in the rotation, to be a workhorse starter after past injuries and moves to the bullpen. He lasted only three starts, the last on April 12, before going on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his elbow.

The Orioles cleared Wells last week to begin playing catch in Sarasota, and he "just continued to experience discomfort," Elias said.

"Sometimes you look at veteran pitchers' elbows with imaging, you're going to see stuff and it's not entirely clear what the immediate course of action should be and you try conservative methods first, usually, and those failed in this case. Everybody agreed at this point to fix it and get it behind him."

Wells was a Rule 5 selection from the Twins organization in December 2020 after undergoing Tommy John surgery in May 2019. He made 44 relief appearances as a rookie and recorded four saves, and the Orioles decided over the winter to make him a starter. The result was a 4.25 ERA and 1.138 WHIP in 23 games.

Pitching for a full season remained a challenge. He went on the injured list twice in 2022, the last for right shoulder inflammation in September, and the Orioles optioned him to Double-A Bowie in July 2023 because he appeared to hit a wall following an impressive first half, when he led the American League in WHIP. He came back in September as a reliever.

Wells, who broke camp this year as the No. 3 starter, sounded confident on April 20 in Kansas City that his latest IL stint would be brief.

“I feel really good,” he said. “I take pride in three things, and that’s being a great teammate, my work ethic and being a good pitcher. Right now, I’m really working hard with the medical staff, with the strength and conditioning staff, and really just make sure my body’s in a good place, that we’re doing a lot of hard work. And after this stint, I come back better than what I was before.”

The issue first surfaced after his April 6 start at PNC Park, when Wells allowed three runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings and threw 87 pitches. Wells noticed it again on April 12 against the Brewers, when he threw 90 pitches in four innings and allowed four runs and six hits.

“It didn’t bounce back quite as well as I’d like after Pittsburgh,” he said in Kansas City. “Then the last start, just kind of kept creeping in, so I went ahead and I said something. We just took the necessary precaution to kind of get ahead of it.”

Neither pitcher received a platelet-rich plasma injection, which seemed to work for Kyle Bradish in January. 

"The surgical determination was made," Elias said. "It just depends on the particulars of the case whether somebody is a good candidate for that."

Hyde said he spoke with Wells but hasn't made contact with Means.

"It's really disappointing," he said of the pending surgeries. "Two guys you really pull for. We were hoping for better news. I'm disappointed for them, personally, to not be able to pitch for us this year and be with us. It's a big blow to both those guys."

The rotation depth is tested again.

"It's hard not to be surprised by that, and it's just something that you always plan for," Elias said. "I think usually baseball teams try to go into spring training with eight or nine starting pitching options, and now we're down a couple. Fortunately, I think our staff did a good job finding a guy like (Albert) Suárez, who’s pitching tonight, and we have other pitchers in Triple-A that we're looking at very closely and are poised to help this team coming up. So, knock on wood, I still feel pretty good about the starting pitching options that we have at the moment, but we'll obviously monitor things and continue to see what happens both internally and externally over the next couple months before closing the book on our starting situation.

"Additionally, Dean Kremer has been out with the triceps strain. It's just an inflamed triceps muscle. This is not something that we're worried about. He's coming along. He'll, obviously, take some time and it might require some type of rehab appearance or two to get him back up here, but we expect him back and would not rule him out for late in the month of June."

Asked about the possibility of a six-man rotation, Hyde said the club is keeping "all options open."

"You forecast what you hope the next three weeks is going to look like, but stuff like this happens," he said. "You take a step back and make some adjustments. We would love to, but we'll see what happens."

The trade market is an obvious avenue to finding starters. The sellers must be identified.

"That's something that's just such a continuous monitoring situation, and everything is always developing this time of year," Elias said. "We're in contact with other teams, clearly, and monitoring what's going on in the standings with the rest of the league. But typically, the old adage is, Memorial Day is around when teams start to kind of self-assess and start to plan for the trade deadline a little bit. But that adage dates back before they added the other wild card spot, and there's a lot of teams that are below .500 that, if you look, they're, like, a couple games out of a playoff spot.

"We've got to see how the whole market evolves. And we're also monitoring our own developments internally and in the minors and so forth. These injuries are significant developments, obviously, but it's not something that I think we need to address today to get another starting pitcher in the organization, and fortunately, we've got five guys up here playing pretty well. I don't expect Kremer is going to be out too much longer. And we've got some guys in Triple-A who are starting to knock on the door. So all that's good. But gosh, it would be foolish for us to expect these to be our last pitching injuries, and there's a lot of time left, so we'll just see what happens."

Left-hander Cade Povich is starting tonight for Triple-A Norfolk, and he's 5-1 with a 2.31 ERA and 1.062 WHIP in 10 appearances. He's averaging 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

"Cade is definitely a guy who's on the tip of our tongues right now," Elias said. "He's having a tremendous season in Triple-A. We're watching every little thing he does, and as we enter this stretch now with all of these games coming up with no off-days, we've had internal dialogue about six-mans for stretches and things like that. He's put himself in position for that type of consideration and it's something that's become kind of a daily conversation for us. So hope he keeps doing his thing tonight. He's put himself in an excellent position and it hasn't escaped our attention, and we're going to need a lot of pitching here coming up in this stretch."

Chayce McDermott also could get the call at some point. He's posted a 4.02 ERA and struck out 75 batters in 47 innings, but he's also walked 30.

"Anyone who's pitching well in Triple-A, you're a phone call away," Elias said. "I don't think he's got the level of time or accomplishment now in Triple-A that Cade has, but he's throwing really well. The stuff's always been great. I think what's been really encouraging is the walks have been cooling off here lately, so he seems to be settling into a better approach at that level and adjusting well. He's got a lot of upside.

"Those guys, we acquired them at the same time in that 2022 deadline and they've been kind of joined at the hip almost whole time, so it's hard to talk about one without the other. But they're really important parts of our organization and they're both getting really close."

* Jordan Westburg is out of the lineup for a second straight game with a sore right hand, but it's improving. Hyde thinks Westburg could be back within the next few games, and he might be available off the bench tonight.

* Triple-A third baseman Coby Mayo, on the injured list with a fractured rib, is doing some rotational activities in Sarasota. He should start swinging a bat next week.

"It wasn't a real bad break," Elias said. "His return is measured probably in weeks rather than anything beyond that."

* Elias downplayed any concerns about the struggling outfielders. Reactions to their lack of production could be seen in the daily lineups, but he seems comfortable waiting for them to get hot or to rely on players in Triple-A.

"I'm hopeful that we're going to see those numbers creep up soon," he said. "We've seen some encouraging swings from some of those guys lately, and some of those balls have fallen and some of them haven't. But there's been some positive trends already."