Orioles pitcher John Means to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery

The Baltimore Orioles were dealt a huge blow on Saturday with the news that starting pitcher John Means will undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery. The 28-year-old lefty confirmed the news on Saturday via his Twitter account.

This is tough sledding for the O’s to lose their ace this early in the season. The fifth-year veteran from Gardner, KS, had made two starts this season, posting a 3.38 ERA with eight base hits and three earned runs allowed. A 2019 American League All-Star, Means was one of the few positives for Baltimore throughout their miserable 2021 campaign last year.

It typically takes a pitcher over a year to recover from Tommy John surgery, so it is expected that Means could return sometime in the middle of the 2023 season next year. The O’s will now have to lean on the likes of Jordan Lyles and Bruce Zimmermann to carry them through the rest of the regular season.