I don't expect much from John Means tonight.

[Safelykept]

1 hour ago, Moose Milligan said:

@Sports Guyis that good? 

Yeah I like John Means I always Have, What a Performance.

[NCRaven]

Means was great and he did what a good pitcher should do against a weak lineup.  But, boy do the Cincy hitters generally suck!  I've never seen a team put up a lineup with so many sub .220 and even .200 hitters.

[Roy Firestone]

Oh, how I love to be so wrong, so consistently.My God, what a performance, though it was against a weak hitting lineup..theyre STILL major leaguers..and Means was brilliant...

Folks, if we get Bradish and Means going, along with Irvin and of course, Burnes and Kremer, and eventually a healthy GROD...look out.

Look out anyway....

[Roy Firestone]

2 hours ago, Tbone83 said:

Roy please make a "Kimbrel is washed up" post asap.

I'd have to get in line with others on this board...

[Roy Firestone]

5 hours ago, RichmondVA Orio said:

Don’t just give Roy a hard time for this thread. There are plenty of naysayers with egg on their face if you go back and look at some of the comments that were made about Means during his rehab starts.

Again, I have a very deep sense of humor  about this....and feel free to have fun with it..But I am very thrilled with what I saw tonight...I'm glad to be a source of entertainment and derision....when we win.. LETS GO O'S!

Edited May 5 by Roy Firestone

[BRobinsonfan]

7 hours ago, Safelykept said:

Yeah I like John Means I always Have, What a Performance.

The ball looked real good coming out of his hand.  It had to be said.  

[Aristotelian]

Is it possible the whole missing spring training/IL thing was simply a smokescreen to manage innings?

[Orioles West]

13 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

Is it possible the whole missing spring training/IL thing was simply a smokescreen to manage innings?

I think it’s a fair question. I also think it’s possible the O’s really thought he needed some work, as those rehab starts seemed to show that he was working on things and not really sweating the results.

[Aristotelian]

18 minutes ago, Orioles West said:

I think it’s a fair question. I also think it’s possible the O’s really thought he needed some work, as those rehab starts seemed to show that he was working on things and not really sweating the results.

It was weird, at the beginning of the spring they said he hadn't had any further setbacks, he was just a month behind in his progression. I guess if they didn't have a chance to do a rehab assignment it carries over to the next year? 

[Orioles West]

52 minutes ago, Aristotelian said:

It was weird, at the beginning of the spring they said he hadn't had any further setbacks, he was just a month behind in his progression. I guess if they didn't have a chance to do a rehab assignment it carries over to the next year? 

It was definitely weird. It seems like some information is missing — either from last season or the spring, be it an arm strength issue or lingering soreness (which maybe counts as a slight setback). The lack of details made it seem like an NHL injury report, purposefully vague.

Either he had some issues or they kept a guy who looked more than ready in his first start off the roster too long.

[Frobby]

When you haven’t seen him pitch for a while, you forget just how fun it is to watch Means when he’s on his game.  Nothing he throws makes you say wow, but so many guys are off balance and can’t barrel him up.   He was absolutely dealing last night.  

[Orioles West]

28 minutes ago, Frobby said:

When you haven’t seen him pitch for a while, you forget just how fun it is to watch Means when he’s on his game.  Nothing he throws makes you say wow, but so many guys are off balance and can’t barrel him up.   He was absolutely dealing last night.  

Yeah - he is fun to watch when he healthy and happy.

Despite the myriad of arm issues, he remains one of my favorite players on the team.

I got to see him bat and pitch in a game here in Colorado, (May, 2019) and the intensity he showed in that game — a bit of throwback attitude — at the time on a bare bones roster. O’s lost, 8-6, but he left the game with a 5-3 lead at Coors Field (Armstrong with the blown save, Givens with the loss), but I loved the way he battled and the enthusiasm he had on that not so good team offered a bit of hope.

[Fiver6565]

The part I liked most other than the results was that Means was just READY on every pitch. As soon as he got the ball from McCann, it looked like he wanted to throw it right back to him. Great rhythm and confidence. He looked exactly like I’d hoped he would. 
 

I think pitching regularly for a really good team for the first time in his career is going to be great for Means. Last night a great first step. 
 

Burnes/Bradish/Means. It’s at least possible Grayson becomes our FOURTH best pitcher when he returns. Wells was our best pitcher in the first half of ‘22. He might not crack the top 7 anymore. Goodness. 

[RZNJ]

33 minutes ago, Fiver6565 said:

The part I liked most other than the results was that Means was just READY on every pitch. As soon as he got the ball from McCann, it looked like he wanted to throw it right back to him. Great rhythm and confidence. He looked exactly like I’d hoped he would. 
 

I think pitching regularly for a really good team for the first time in his career is going to be great for Means. Last night a great first step. 
 

Burnes/Bradish/Means. It’s at least possible Grayson becomes our FOURTH best pitcher when he returns. Wells was our best pitcher in the first half of ‘22. He might not crack the top 7 anymore. Goodness. 

And no mention of the pitcher with 18 consecutive scoreless innings!  

[Sports Guy]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

When you haven’t seen him pitch for a while, you forget just how fun it is to watch Means when he’s on his game.  Nothing he throws makes you say wow, but so many guys are off balance and can’t barrel him up.   He was absolutely dealing last night.  

He’s a very good pitcher, especially when he’s on.…he’s just not reliable.