You can’t get much worse news than this.
The Orioles, who are battling with the Yankees atop the AL East, are going to be down two major pieces for the foreseeable future, putting a sizable vacancy in their starting rotation.
Baltimore got word Friday that lefty John Means and righty Tyler Wells will undergo elbow surgeries to repair ulnar collateral ligament injuries to their throwing arms.
Orioles general manager Mike Elias announced the news before the team’s weekend series opener against the American League East rival Rays.
“It’s a very unfortunate situation for us, for them. Tough news for everybody,” Elias told reporters before their 3-1 win over the Rays. “But we’ll take great care of them and get them back to their skill levels in due time.”
Elias later added: “Knock on wood, I still feel pretty good about the starting pitching options that we have at the moment.”
UCL surgery will cause Means and Wells to miss the remainder of the 2024 season, which has been particularly brutal to pitchers in baseball, in terms of health.
Means and Wells have each already previously undergone Tommy John surgery, which caused them to miss ample time.
Means had his procedure more recently in April 2022, while Wells’ was in May 2019.
It is unknown if either will have to repeat Tommy John surgery or have another type of UCL surgery, such as an internal brace procedure.
Means was the runner-up for American League Rookie of the Year in 2019, when he also made his lone All-Star appearance.
Because of injuries, Means only has pitched in 10 games since the conclusion of the 2021 season.
He has made 73 career starts in his seven-year career.
Wells was a mainstay in the O’s rotation last season, holding a 3.64 ERA for a team that reached the playoffs for the first time since 2016 and just the fourth since 1997.
The Orioles sit 36-19 and are in second place in the AL East.
