Elias addressing media at 4:05 today

[brooks1083]

I feel like Means should be asking for a refund. Or get this one on the house. I know the finger is always pointing to all the innings these guys throw. Is it perhaps that we’re reaching the physical limits of the human body the way these guys throw now? I can imagine analytics is getting everything it can out of their arms with mechanics and such.

[ScGO's]

2 minutes ago, G54377 said:

I had honestly forgotten about Tyler Wells. I thought he was an ideal bullpen piece at best. Means just seemed to always be one step away from a another IL stint. Oh well.

I think the loss of Wells puts more emphasis on our need for a bullpen arm. Many were thinking he'd help sure up the pen

[Greg Pappas]

Darn shame for both.

 

[Frobby]

I’m very disappointed for both of them.  They’ve already been through a lot.  It’s gotta be very tough.  

Now I just hope the health of our remaining starters holds up.  Especially Bradish, who already had a scare this year.

You can never have enough pitching.
 

[MemorialStadKid]

Time for some blockbuster trades. 

Mets, Oakland and White Sox have some parts we could use...

MSK 

 

[Morgan423]

If anyone missed the news Elias dropped:

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/orioles-john-means-tyler-wells-to-undergo-elbow-surgery-and-miss-remainder-of-2024-mlb-season/

[ChipTait]

I thought they were being sly with Wells, keeping him in limbo until the 2nd half, when he'd ride in like a hero with a fresh arm and blood full of piss and vinegar.  Darn it!

I wish both of them speedy recoveries!

[wildcard]

9 minutes ago, Frobby said:

You can never have enough pitching.

9 days ago Elias traded Mike Baumann for a AAA catcher.    There was just no room for Baumann on the team or so they thought.

[gamiliel]

24 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

Imagine the horror...10 starters to 8!  

Pretty sure you were here for the Asher Wojciechowski, David Hess, Aaron Brooks, Jimmy Yacabonis, Tyler Wilson days.  

We're light years from there.  There were questions all along if Means would be able to bounce back for significant innings and Wells was a candidate to break down all along since that's what Wells does.  Body of a horse that's made out of wet tissue paper.

We'll be fine.  This is a bump in the road.

No, this is an issue. We are one more injury away (Bradish, Grayson?) from being in big trouble.  Assuming they stay healthy then Bradish, Burns, G-Rod is good top 3 for playoffs. But we definitely bullpen help.

[Morgan423]

On a related note, I want to bring up my desire again to have the team take 4 or 5 position minor league position players a season that are about to fail out of the system, and convert them into knuckle ball pitchers. 

It would pay off if even one of them makes it to the rotation, and those guys have noodle arms and could pitch with a much-decreased worry of common pitcher injuries. 

Edited May 31 by Morgan423

[Frobby]

9 minutes ago, wildcard said:

9 days ago Elias traded Mike Baumann for a AAA catcher.    There was just no room for Baumann on the team or so they thought.

That was about the most poorly timed DFA either.  Since that day, Means and Kremer went on the IL (Means now out for the year, and Akin (who could have been optioned rather than losing Baumann) has had three horrific appearances.  He pitched well right up to the day we dumped Baumann.  

[btdart20]

Brutal news for Means and Wells.  Godspeed on their surgeries and recovery.

From a team standpoint, it's far from a shipwrecked season.  Contributions from them were "nice to haves" not "need to haves".  We've still got 3 hosses.  We've got Kremer, Irvin, and Suarez also on the 26.  Plus Povich in AAA.  Maybe even McDermott.  I doubt we target a #1-2 SP type (unless there's team control involved).  Maybe a depth guy bit probably not.

Bullpen is still the position of need.

[Just Regular]

10 minutes ago, Morgan423 said:

On a related note, I want to bring up my desire again to have the team take 4 or 5 position minor league position players a season that are about to fail out of the system, and convert them into knuckle ball pitchers. 

It would pay off if even one of them makes it to the rotation, and those guys have noodle arms and could pitch with a much-decreased worry of common pitcher injuries. 

Did you see David Fletcher threw 5 innings against Norfolk?

I think DirtyBird had screen grabs of him striking out Jackson Holliday like 9 times in the 5 innings.

[interloper]

4 minutes ago, Frobby said:

That was about the most poorly timed DFA either.  Since that day, Means and Kremer went on the IL (Means now out for the year, and Akin (who could have been optioned rather than losing Baumann) has had three horrific appearances.  He pitched well right up to the day we dumped Baumann.  

I know I'm a broken record on this, so I'll keep it short. For me the mistake isn't even really about Baumann specifically, it's that they could have just delayed the decision a little longer. And Elias usually does delay as long as possible and keep as many guys as possible. It was a little out of character and it didn't work out. 

[Just Regular]

Best wishes to both guys for strong recoveries.

I never really had John Means in a key tournament role absent injuries to others but generally did have hopes Wells might with Cano and Coulombe make at least 3 relievers in house you could feel good about using.

In both cases when the dust settles some we'll see if the Felix Bautista 2-year thing for their 2025/2026 seasons is anything the club and players might have common ground on.