Because Thursday's game was rained out, the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles had Friday afternoon all to themselves for their makeup Opening Day game. The two AL East rivals opened their seasons at Fenway Park, and a trio of O's hurlers held Boston to two hits in a 3-0 win (box score).
The Red Sox were shut out on Opening Day for the first time since 1976, and shut out at home on Opening Day for the first time since 1962. It was the first time the Red Sox were held to two hits or fewer on Opening Day since 1959. Baltimore last threw a shutout on Opening Day in 2005. The O's have won nine of the last 11 season openers.
Orioles left-hander John Means, a 2019 All-Star and that year's AL Rookie of the Year runner-up, turned in 2021's best Opening Day pitching performance. The soon-to-be 28-year-old southpaw held the BoSox to one single -- the runner was immediately picked off -- and zero walks in seven shutout innings. He struck out five and retired 18 consecutive batters at one point.
Dating back to last season, Means has allowed no more than one run in each of his last five starts, which is the second-longest such streak in franchise history (Hall of Famer Jim Palmer did it in six straight starts in 1978). By Game Score, a metric that scores a start based on outcomes (hits, strikeouts, etc.), Means just had one the best Opening Day starts in O's history.
- Jim Palmer, 1975: 85 Game Score
- Rick Sutcliffe, 1992: 82 Game Score
- Dave McNally, 1973: 82 Game Score
- Jeremy Guthrie, 2011: 81 Game Score
- Dave McNally, 1970: 81 Game Score
- John Means, 2021: 80 Game Score
Means is the fourth pitcher to throw seven shutout innings with no more than one hit allowed on Opening Day in the last 25 years, joining Sonny Gray (2015), Clayton Kershaw (2016), and Jordan Zimmerman (2019).
Two years ago Means broke out thanks to a changeup he improved with the help of Chris Holt, then the O's minor-league pitching coordinator and currently their major-league pitching coach. GM Mike Elias brought Holt with him from the Astros, and Means is his first significant success story. Look how Means sells his changeup and how it plays off his fastball:
Thanks to that changeup, Means held the Red Sox to an 86.4-mph average exit velocity on 17 balls in play, which is well below 88.0-mph league average. The Red Sox hit more balls under 82 mph (seven) than over 90 mph (five) against Means, and they also missed with eight of their 16 swings against his changeup. The league average miss-per-swings rate on changeups is 32 percent.
As a rookie in 2019, Means threw 155 innings with a 3.60 ERA and a 3.2 K/BB ratio. He started very poorly last year (8.10 ERA in six starts) before righting the ship, and there were indications those six poor starts were a blip. Means still got swings and misses with this changeup and his fastball velocity was up, though it was back to its 2019 levels Friday.
The Orioles are now in Year 4 of their scorched earth rebuild and we are starting to see the fruits of their labor in the outfield (Austin Hays, Anthony Santander) and at first base (Ryan Mountcastle). Soon top prospect Adley Rutschman will take over behind the plate, and highly regarded pitching prospects DL Hall and Grayson Rodriguez aren't too far away.
Means was an 11th-round draft pick in 2014, so his time in the organization predates the rebuild, but he is very much part of it now. He is the club's top pitcher and his body of work the last two years tell us he is a legitimately above-average major league starter. On Friday, Means showed everyone he can be as good as anyone on his best days.
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April 03, 2021 at 05:24AM
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Orioles' John Means throws seven scoreless innings vs. Red Sox in best 2021 Opening Day pitching performance - CBS Sports
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