Tyler

Wells

Wells resumed a throwing program last month and is expected to be out until around midseason as he continues recovering from last year’s right elbow surgery.

Wells is rehabbing from reconstructive elbow surgery and is taking his recovery “day-by-day.” While the Orioles are hoping for a post-All-Star break return, Wells isn’t clear on his timeline. “I don’t have any timeline or anything like that. I’m just trying to focus on what I can take care of in my day-to-day stuff and make sure I’m recovering well, that I’m working out, eating right, things like that.”

Elias also said the same for Kyle Bradish (elbow). Both Wells and Bradish were unable to contribute much in 2025 because of their UCL injuries, but both have a chance to have some fantasy relevance — even if only for half a season — with the team playing behind them. Neither misses a ton of bats, however, so they’re more of players you should monitor rather than considering them as a potential draft pick.

This was a procedural move as each player had to be activated from the injured list today and placed on the 40-man roster. Bautista, Mateo, and Wells should be full-go for the start of the season with Bautista again being the closer for the Orioles, which could make him a great value in fantasy leagues.

Wells is out for the season and probably the first half of 2025 after having his UCL repaired earlier this week.

The internal brace gives him a better chance of returning next summer, but a 2026 return still might be the most likely scenario here. The Orioles figure to pay the $2 million or so necessary to keep him around next year in the hopes that it will pay off down the road.

In a brutal blow to the Orioles’ pitching depth, Elias announced that both Wells and John Means would undergo operations to repair their UCL’s. It’s not clear if that will be Tommy John surgery or the internal brace procedure, but both hurlers are going to miss the remainder of the 2024 season and the start of the 2025 campaign as well while recovering. The Orioles will now rely more heavily on Albert Suarez and Cole Irvin in the rotation for the remainder of the season.

Wells hit the injured list back in mid-April with right elbow inflammation and has finally been cleared to kick off a throwing program. The 29-year-old righty is still several weeks, if not longer, away from being an option for Baltimore’s starting rotation mix, which took a hit earlier this week with John Means suffering a forearm strain.

The 29-year-old right-hander didn’t bounce back as quickly as he usually would have after his last start, which prompted him to speak up — leading to his trip to the injured list. Wells and the Orioles are both optimistic that it’s just a minor issue and that he won’t require a lengthy absence, but until he resumes throwing it’s impossible to set any sort of timeline for a potential return.

Wells was scheduled to start Wednesday’s series finale against the Twins, so Baltimore will have to make a roster move to bring up a spot starter to take the ball in his absence. No word yet on how long the 29-year-old righty will be sidelined, but there should be some clarity on his status in the coming days. He’s struggled to an inflated 5.87 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and 13/3 K/BB ratio across 15 1/3 innings (three starts) this season.