John Means is back. It’s official. The Orioles activated their 30-year-old lefty starter on Tuesday afternoon ahead of his start tonight against the Cardinals. To clear room on the 26-man roster, reliever Joey Krehbiel was optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk. There was already an open spot on the 40-man roster, so the O’s did not need to make an additional move while reinstating Means from the 60-day injured list.
A whole lot has happened with the Orioles in the nearly 17 month interval between Means’s last start and now. Means suffered the ulnar collateral ligament injury that necessitated Tommy John surgery in just his second start last season, months before there was any inkling that the 2022 Orioles might have something good going on.