It's About Time The Rest Of The Baseball World Recognizes How Good John Means Is

Yesterday was John Means day and that means the Orioles were going to get a great pitching performance. That is just what it means. He was a great story in 2019, had a rough season in 2020, but ended it strong and has been one of the best pitchers in baseball since the beginning of September 2020. Don't believe me? Let's compare him to the best pitcher in baseball. 

Take a look at those numbers for Means compared to deGrom. More innings, lower ERA, and lower WHIP than the best pitcher in baseball and it's not a small sample size. This season alone Means has been brilliant. On Sunday he helped stop the Athletics 13 game winning streak with a filthy performance of 6 1/3 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 3 walks, and 6 Ks. That outing lowered his ERA to 1.50, second best in the AL. In 30 innings he's given up 18 hits, 5 runs, 29 Ks, 9 walks, a 0.90 WHIP, and opponents are hitting .171 against him. He's good. 2019 wasn't a fluke, John Means is a damn good pitcher. 15 Ks and 1 ER in his last 13 innings too, he is a true stopper for the Orioles. They basically have John Means, an ace, and then they have guys. It's nice to be able to watch him dice up a lineup every 5th day. 

He may be the most underrated pitcher in baseball, partly because of the team he plays on. I was talking with Dallas about him over the weekend and I'm thrilled DB was able to call one of Means' starts just so he could see how nasty he is with his own two eyes. His changeup is one of the best in baseball and yesterday he got 15 swing and misses. John Means Is GOOD. He's one of the easiest guys to root for, you have to hope he makes his second All Star appearance this season. Let's hope the manger this year doesn't leave him out of the game like Alex Cora did in 2019. I wish we could clone 5 John Means' and have them all start for the Birds, he's so damn good.