7 October 2023
Orioles left-hander John Means is not on the club’s American League Division Series roster because he came out of his two-inning simulated game during Thursday’s workout with elbow soreness, manager Brandon Hyde said Saturday morning.
Means excelled in four starts after returning from Tommy John elbow reconstruction, posting a 2.66 ERA with his signature fastball-changeup combination, but won’t be able to contribute in Baltimore’s best-of-five series with the Texas Rangers. Hyde said Means would be available for the AL Championship Series should the Orioles advance, saying the injury is “not concerning” despite Means’ elbow procedure.
“I know he’s disappointed,” Hyde said. “He threw a two-inning sim game a couple of days ago and didn’t feel right. Pretty normal after a Tommy John process, and he’s thrown the ball extremely well. And we don’t want to take any chances, honestly, with it.
“If you put him on the roster, he’s tough to replace, all those kind of things that happen. We felt the right thing to do was give him a few days off and get him ready for the Championship Series, if we advance.”
With Means out, the Orioles will likely line up right-handers Dean Kremer and Kyle Gibson to start Games 3 and 4, though Hyde has not unveiled the order.
“We feel great about our starting pitching depth,” Hyde said. “Dean and Kyle Gibson both threw the ball extremely well this year.”
Hyde unveiled the full 26-player roster Saturday morning, with left-hander Cole Irvin and right-hander Shintaro Fujinami joining Means as members of the Orioles’ end-of-season roster who won’t face Texas. Baltimore will carry 14 position players and 12 pitchers, with the former group featuring all of the players who finished the regular season in the majors — including rookie outfielder Heston Kjerstad — and right-hander Bryan Baker making the bullpen.
Although Kjerstad was not on Baltimore’s 40-man roster by the Aug. 31 cutoff, he is eligible for the postseason because the Orioles have at least one player who spent the requisite amount of time on the injured list. Baltimore has three such players in pitchers Félix Bautista, Dillon Tate and Keegan Akin.
The best-of-five series with the Rangers begins at 1:03 p.m. at Camden Yards, with Game 1 televised on FS1. If the Orioles advance, they would be able to change the roster before facing either the Houston Astros or Minnesota Twins in the best-of-seven AL Championship Series beginning Oct. 15. In addition to Means’ potential return, Hyde suggested the Orioles could balance their roster for that matchup.
“If we go to a seven-game series, things might change,” Hyde said. “A five-game series with a couple of off-days in there, you feel more comfortable carrying less pitchers.”
The club also announced its Game 1 lineup behind right-hander Kyle Bradish, with Hyde saying he prepared “a few lineups” before learning Friday evening the Rangers were starting left-hander Andrew Heaney. That choice prompted Hyde to deploy his typical nine-man group against a left-hander with one exception, leaving Jorge Mateo on the bench after the shortstop started all but four of 53 regular-season games opposite a lefty. But Mateo is also one of the fastest runners in the sport and thus is available to pinch-run in a key spot.
Otherwise, Hyde put Austin Hays in the leadoff spot and dropped left-handed hitters Gunnar Henderson and Cedric Mullins to fifth and seventh, respectively, while fellow lefties Ryan O’Hearn and Adam Frazier are among Baltimore’s reserves. The Rangers start another left-hander, Jordan Montgomery, in Sunday’s Game 2.
Texas’ roster features 13 pitchers and position players each and does not include three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer, who is progressing from a shoulder muscle injury.
Here’s the Orioles’ ALDS roster, listed alphabetically by last name within positions.
Right-handed pitchers (9): Bryan Baker, Kyle Bradish, Yennier Cano, Jack Flaherty, Kyle Gibson, Dean Kremer, Grayson Rodriguez, Jacob Webb, Tyler Wells
Left-handed pitchers (3): Danny Coulombe, DL Hall, Cionel Pérez
Catchers (2): James McCann, Adley Rutschman
Infielders (7): Adam Frazier, Gunnar Henderson, Jorge Mateo, Ryan Mountcastle, Ryan O’Hearn, Ramón Urías, Jordan Westburg
Outfielders (5): Austin Hays, Aaron Hicks, Heston Kjerstad, Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander
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