John Means returns Saturday, Suárez's mentality same in new role

CINCINNATI – One pitcher has been added and left-hander John Means is next. When the veteran O’s lefty starts tonight at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, he will join right-hander Kyle Bradish as another recent addition to the Baltimore rotation.

Grayson Rodriguez went to the injured list, Albert Suárez went to the bullpen and first Bradish and now Means are back.

If it goes as well for Means as it did this week for Bradish, the Orioles will be pretty excited about that.

Means had Tommy John surgery in April of 2022 and finally made it back to the Orioles for the final month last year. His first game last Sept. 12 was the O’s 144^th of the year. But Means went 1-2 with a 2.66 ERA over four starts and helped the club down the stretch.

He would have likely started an American League Division Series game versus Texas but some elbow soreness that week shut him down. The O’s were cautious with him this winter and slowed played his spring where he did not pitch in one game in Florida.

So, finally, here he is ready for another return to a big league mound.

This after six rehab games at Triple-A where his ERA was 8.68 over 18 2/3 innings for Norfolk. But finally, Means had a long and good outing last Sunday versus Gwinnett. He gave up one hit in seven scoreless with eight strikeouts on 95 pitches.

Could he throw that many pitches if he does well tonight?

“I hope so, yeah,” manager Brandon Hyde said Friday afternoon. “Think first time out after being out for a while, you’re not sure what to expect honestly. I’m hoping he goes out and feels good for as long as he can go. We’ll see what the stuff looks like and see how the stuff plays.”

The ace of the O’s staff as recently as 2021, Means has thrown just 31 2/3 big league innings since the start of the 2022 season.

“It’s not easy to do (all that rehab) and you feel for those guys that have to sit back and wait patiently and watch. And I think Meansie has handled it really, really well. He was around quite a bit last year before he came back and really wanted to contribute for us in September and he did. He was fantastic,” said Hyde.

If all goes well today and Means can remain healthy, the Orioles have to decide how many innings they can use him for this season when he threw so few the last two seasons.

“I think like with everybody else, our eyes are going to be on him and we’re going to evaluate start-to-start. Hopefully, he can make it all the way through. There is not a certain number or innings limit we’re putting on him. We’re just going to monitor him closely like we are with Kyle coming off an injury also," said Hyde.

Suárez on bullpen role: Means and Bradish’s returns have pushed right-hander Suarez, who went 1-0 with a 2.35 ERA in three starts, to a bullpen role.

Suárez said he did not expect much would change for him pitching out of the Baltimore ‘pen.

“The only thing I change is my routine,” he said Friday. “Like going to the weight room and do different stuff. Everything else is normal. In the bullpen you don’t know when you will pitch, it's something different. But I’ve done it before and know how to prepare.”

For some knowledge of pitching in relief, he could turn to his younger brother, San Diego Padres closer Robert Suárez, who is 10-for-10 in save chances with an ERA of 0.66.

Albert said they talk every day, but noted his experience in the ‘pen will likely be very different from his brother’s experience. He was asked if would approach his games differently knowing he would not need to prepare for a six-inning or longer outing? 

“The mentality is kind of the same – attack no matter what,” he said. “But for sure I know I won’t face the lineup two or three times. I will just go in, use my best stuff and try to get them out.”

He has averaged 95.1 mph thus far with the Birds on his four-seam fastball. Maybe he could gain some velo out of the ‘pen.

“Maybe. That would be fun,” Suárez said.

For now, Suárez is proud that he has shown he can still get big-league hitters out. After his journey over the last five seasons through Japan and Korea and this year getting back to the majors for the first time since 2017.

“It’s kind of like a reward for myself. I’ve been working so hard for it. I’m enjoying this moment," he said. 

Yet another shutout: The Orioles could get used to pitching like this. After holding the Yankees to six runs over four games, they shut out Cincinnati 3-0 last night. Cole Irvin improved to 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA.

Irvin now has a 20 2/3 innings scoreless streak and his ERA ranks 16th in the American League just a few spots below Corbin Burnes, who is 12th.

The O's have two shutouts in the last five games allowing six runs with a team ERA of 1.20 in that span. Their four shutouts on the year have all come during the last 12 games. In those dozen games, they have a team ERA of 2.33, allowing 30 runs.

Craig Kimbrel, pitching for the first time since Sunday, when he exited a game with upper back tightness, struck out the side in the ninth last night to record his eighth save. The Baltimore bullpen has allowed one run over 15 1/3 the past five games.

Irvin last night posted his third consecutive scoreless start of at least six innings, the longest streak by an Orioles pitcher since Matt Harvey (also three games) from July 18-July 30, 2021 and the longest by an Orioles left-hander since Fernando Valenzuela (also three games) from June 30-July 10, 1993. 

He extended his career-long scoreless streak to 20 2/3, the longest run by an Orioles starter since Dean Kremer posted a 22 2/3 innings streak from June 6-June 17, 2022. It also marks the longest streak by an O's southpaw since Erik Bedard produced 21 consecutive scoreless frames from July 7-July 20, 2007. 

For more on last night's game story and a few postgame quotes, click here.