Baltimore Orioles fans were dealt some rough injury news on starting pitchers Kyle Bradish and John Means on Thursday, putting the rotation in a precarious situation.
The Orioles have a new ace after landing former NL Cy Young award winner Corbin Burnes in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers at the beginning of February, but after that, there are some question marks in the starting five.
Bradish was arguably Baltimore’s best starter last season, going 12-7 with the top ERA (2.83) of the unit and recording the most strikeouts on the team (168).
Bradish also posted a 1.04 WHIP across 168 2/3 innings pitched (30 starts) and per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, had the best second-half ERA among AL starters (2.34). He finished fourth in the league’s Cy Young voting in what was only his second season.
Means was limited to just four starts at the end of the 2023 regular season as the team’s former ace made his long-awaited return to action in September after not having pitched since April 2022.
The southpaw suffered an elbow strain early in the 2022 campaign and subsequently underwent Tommy John surgery. Means went 1-2 with a 2.66 ERA, 0.71 WHIP and registered 10 strikeouts over 23 2/3 innings pitched in 2023.
The former 46th-round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves was stellar in his 2019 rookie season, going 12-11 with a 3.60 ERA and 1.13 WHIP while striking out 121 batters across 155 innings pitched. Means made his lone All-Star team that year and finished second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting.
