The Baltimore Orioles have placed left-handed starter John Means on the 15-day injured list with a left forearm strain. In a corresponding move, the Orioles have recalled right-hander Jonathan Heasley from Triple-A. Means exited his last start after feeling elbow discomfort and showing decreased fastball velocity.
Means is no stranger to arm troubles, at least in recent months. He's been limited to just four starts this season because of a forearm injury suffered in the spring. Prior to that, he was able to make just six combined starts across the 2022 and 2023 season because of an elbow injury that eventually required Tommy John surgery.
In his four 2024 starts, the 31-year-old Means has pitched to a 2.61 ERA with 16 strikeouts against just two walks in 20 2/3 innings. With an impressive career ERA+ of 123, Means has been quite effective when healthy, but health has proved elusive. He's yet to log a qualifying number of innings in a season since his arrival in the majors in 2018.
The loss of Means is a blow to an Oriole rotation that was just starting to get healthy with the recent returns of Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez. Offseason trade acquisition Corbin Burnes gives Baltimore a true frontline presence, but depth remains a concern. As such, the contending O's could be active in pursuing rotation help leading up the July 30 trade deadline.
The Orioles are coming off a sweep at the hands of the Cardinals -- the first regular-season sweep they've endured since 2022 -- but at 29-18 they remain firmly in wild-card position and within range of the Yankees at the top of the AL East standings.
