Can Means become the Orioles’ version of Kuechel?

[esmd]

There's going to be some unfair expectations put on Means by some fans (and perhaps media) because he's the best pitcher on a very bad staff.  Look, for the amount of expectations that people had for him going into the season (or rather, lack of them), if he can turn into a .500 starting pitcher who can consistently get them into or through 6 innings allowing less than 5 runs, I'll take it.  Anything more than that is gravy.

[TonySoprano]

8.34 ERA in 5 GS since the break, rising his ERA by 1.26, and removing him from any discussion of rookie of the year.   NYY has been destroying our staff all season, so it was bound to catch up to Means as well.  He has been an unexpected and welcome surprise all season, so I'm not going to kick him when he's down.

[interloper]

I think Bundy will end up our best start by the end of the year. Means had a good run! Seems like he's a little worn out to me. 

[OFFNY]

o

 

Means had a no-hitter through 5 complete innings ........ and then, it was Single-Rama in the 6th (helped along by an error from the Orioles' defense.)

His buddy Gabriel Ynoa did an excellent job of stemming the flow, by stranding everybody when he inherited a bases-loaded with nobody out situation.

 

 

15 OUTS: ) 4 Strikeouts, 4 Groundouts, 4 Flyouts, 2 Popouts, 1 Lineout

 

JOHN ALAN MEANS )))))) (vs. ROYALS, 8/19)

IP:ll5 - PLUS

H:llll 4 )l (4 Singles)   

R:lllll 3

ER:l 2

BB:ll2 

SO:ll4

Pitches: )l 94) (61 )Strikes, )33 )Balls) 

2019 ERA: ))3.75  ))  110.33 IP  (46 ER) 

2019 WHIP: ))1.215  ))  110.33 IP  (134 H/BB)

2019 OPPONENTS BATTING AVG: )).241 ) (102 for 423) 

 

PITCHES BY INNING

*************************

18 ll(91 llStrikes, lll91 lllBalls)

17 ll(11 lllStrikes, lll61 lllBalls)

81 ll(71 llStrikes, lll11 lllBalls)

11 ll(81 llStrikes, lll31 lllBalls)

12 ll(91 llStrikes, llll31 lllBalls)

28 ll(17 llStrikes, ll11 llllBalls) ) *

 

* )) Means did not record any outs before departing in the 6th inning.

 

o

[Il BuonO]

He was cruising along until the 6th, but he still didn’t pitch that bad. His CH looked better than it has his last four or five starts and was mixing it up well. He has to have that pitch or he won’t be successful.

But the defense let him down. A fat pitch to Merrifield was the only bad pitch. Alberto looked as if he was playing catch for the first time and Severino thought it would be better to stand two feet behind the plate to receive the ball on a close play. 

I would have called for Hyde to come and get me at that point. 

[sportsfan8703]

Not a surprise to see Means back to himself after the injury, and having to face two really tough teams. He aight.  

[UpstateNYfan]

5 hours ago, Il BuonO said:

He was cruising along until the 6th, but he still didn’t pitch that bad. His CH looked better than it has his last four or five starts and was mixing it up well. He has to have that pitch or he won’t be successful.

But the defense let him down. A fat pitch to Merrifield was the only bad pitch. Alberto looked as if he was playing catch for the first time and Severino thought it would be better to stand two feet behind the plate to receive the ball on a close play. 

I would have called for Hyde to come and get me at that point. 

Kudos to you!! You really watch this team? I can't be that masochistic. Nine innings of waiting for the implosion is not healthy.

[OFFNY]

o

 

Outstanding Strikes-to-Balls ratio ........ )100 Pitches ) (70 )Strikes, )30 )Balls.) 

57% of the outs that Means recorded (12 out of 21) were in the air.

 

 

21 OUTS: ) 8 Flyouts, 7 Strikeouts, 2 Groundouts, 2 Popouts, 2 Lineouts

 

JOHN ALAN MEANS )))))) (vs. DEVIL RAYS, 8/24)

IP:ll7

H:llll 5 )l (1 Home Run, 1 Double, 3 Singles)   

R:lllll 1

BB:ll0 

SO:ll7

Pitches: )l 100) (70 )Strikes, )30 )Balls) 

2019 ERA: ))3.61  ))  117.33 IP  (47 ER) 

2019 WHIP: ))1.185  ))  117.33 IP  (139 H/BB)

2019 OPPONENTS BATTING AVG: )).238 ) (107 for 450) 

 

PITCHES BY INNING

*************************

14 ll(10 llStrikes, lll4 lllBalls)

81 ll(51 lllStrikes, lll3 lllBalls)

13 ll(91 llStrikes, lll4 lllBalls)

11 ll(91 llStrikes, lll2 lllBalls)

20 ll(13 llStrikes, lll7 lllBalls)

17 ll(14 lllStrikes, llll3 lllBalls)

17 ll(10 lllStrikes, llll7 lllBalls)

 

o

[Frobby]

He just pounded the strike zone tonight.    He was a pleasure to watch.   

[murph]

Didn’t see the game.  Changeup was on point?

[scOtt]

14 minutes ago, murph said:

Didn’t see the game.  Changeup was on point?

Everything was on point. Palmer was saying, "North-South. His mechanics are better when he's not falling off and he works up and down." Rays were swinging early and often and he exploited that very well.

[Il BuonO]

16 minutes ago, murph said:

Didn’t see the game.  Changeup was on point?

Yes, again. Better command of the CH. Left one slider up and fat, in the middle of the plate that was tagged for a HR.  Much more efficient.

[murph]

48 minutes ago, scOtt said:

Everything was on point. Palmer was saying, "North-South. His mechanics are better when he's not falling off and he works up and down." Rays were swinging early and often and he exploited that very well.

 

47 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Yes, again. Better command of the CH. Left one slider up and fat, in the middle of the plate that was tagged for a HR.  Much more efficient.

Thanks guys.    So hoping that he is the beginning of something really good. I would imagine him as a #3 in a strong rotation would be something formidable     

[Il BuonO]

On 8/20/2019 at 5:25 AM, UpstateNYfan said:

Kudos to you!! You really watch this team? I can't be that masochistic. Nine innings of waiting for the implosion is not healthy.

Watching the young guys and players I never expected to amount to anything is part of the fun. Yes, fun. Means and Alberto are in the latter category. Santander, Stewart and Harvey are in the former. 

Nine innings of looking for a diamond in the rough is what I’d call it. Perspective changes a lot.

[scOtt]

9 minutes ago, Il BuonO said:

Watching the young guys and players I never expected to amount to anything is part of the fun. Yes, fun. Means and Alberto are in the latter category. Santander, Stewart and Harvey are in the former. 

Nine innings of looking for a diamond in the rough is what I’d call it. Perspective changes a lot.

Lot of interesting players to divert attention from the losing.