Baltimore Orioles: John Means news adds to a rough weekend

There’s injury news concerning Baltimore Orioles Opening Day starter John Means and the Orioles will be without their two leading voices.

Early Saturday morning, Baltimore Orioles fans learned that beloved MASN broadcasters Gary Thorne and Jim Palmer would not be calling games in 2020 due to safety concerns with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (via Dan Connolly of The Athletic), but that wasn’t the only bit of bad news received over the weekend.

Later in the day, MASN’s Roch Kubatko reported that starting pitcher John Means would not be pitching in an exhibition game on Sunday night against the Philadelphia Phillies due to a “dead arm.”

Means has already been named the Baltimore Orioles Opening Day starter for their July 24th contest at Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox and the news has to be at least a bit concerning with less than a week to go before the Orioles begin their 2020 season.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde says it’s too early to talk about Means missing his first Opening Day start, but it is something to keep a close eye on over the next few days.

With no minor league baseball season to follow a talented group of prospects the Orioles have developed over the last few years, it’s a bit harder to find exciting 2020 storylines if you’re an Orioles fan, myself included.

Outfielder Austin Hays certainly sits atop that list, along with possible closer of the future Hunter Harvey, the United Kingdom’s favorite player in Anthony Santander, and maybe Chance Sisco’s ability to be a consistent presence at the plate also providing intrigue this year, if you are still a believer and haven’t jumped ship on Sisco yet.

John Means and his sophomore season is also on that list as he attempts to lead a starting rotation that will see starts from the likes of Alex Cobb, Asher Wojciechowski, Wade LeBlanc, Tommy Milone, Kohl Stewart, and other less than exciting names.

Means, who contemplated retirement ahead of the 2019 season, earned himself an All-Star nod and finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting after going 12-11 with a 3.60 ERA and 1.14 WHIP across 31 appearances (27 starts).

The West Virginia University product was worth 3.0 Wins Above Replacement in 2019, per Fangraphs, making him the first Baltimore Orioles pitcher to be worth at least 3.0 fWAR since Kevin Gausman posted a 3.1 fWAR season in 2016.

You have to go all the way back to 2007 and Erik Bedard to find the next name on the list of 3.0 fWAR or higher pitchers in Baltimore.

Excitement for Opening Day continues to grow as we get closer and closer to that date, but knowing that Orioles games won’t have the duo of Palmer and Thorne in the booth and seeing injury news concerning the Opening Day starter are tempering those feelings of excitement just a bit.

Hopefully, it’s just a case of trying to ramp up too quickly for John Means and he will not only be able to make his Opening Day start, but show that his 2019 season was legitimate and he’s going to stick around in the Orioles rotation for years to come.

With all of the top prospects like Adley Rutschman, Grayson Rodriguez, DL Hall, and others sidelined in 2020, Orioles fans need every bit of excitement they can get this season, and John Means is a big part of that.