Three Mountaineers on MLB Rosters to Begin 2023 Season

A few WVU hurlers are in the show.

2023 Opening Day is officially here and three former West Virginia Mountaineers are on MLB rosters - John Means (Baltimore Orioles), Alek Manoah (Toronto Blue Jays), and Michael Grove (Los Angeles Dodgers).

Just two starts into the 2022 season, Means felt some discomfort in his left elbow. After undergoing multiple MRIs, the doctors felt like it was in Means' best interest to undergo Tommy John surgery, thus ending his season. Means will start the year on the 60-day IL.

In 2021, Means officially put himself on the map in Major League Baseball by posting a 6-9 record to go along with a 3.62 ERA. Records don't truly indicate the success of pitchers in baseball, especially on a team like the Baltimore Orioles who, at the time, were in rebuild mode.

On May 5th of that season, Means put himself in the history books by tossing a no-hitter against the Seattle Mariners. It also marked the first no-hitter an individual Orioles pitcher has thrown since Jim Palmer back in 1969 against the Oakland Athletics.

As for Manoah, he is off to a terrific start to his career as he finished third in the American League Cy Young voting in 2022. He posted a 2.24 ERA which ranked third in the American League while also ranking fourth in innings pitched (196.2) and fifth in opponents' batting average (.202) and had 180 strikeouts and collected 16 wins along the way. 

Manoah earned a 2022 All-Star selection after posting a 2.33 ERA which ranked third in the American League at the time with 90 strikeouts in 110.1 innings of work. He had the second-best start in the first 14 games of the season in Blue Jays history with a 2.05 ERA a notch behind the great Roger Clemens who through the first 14 games in 1997, had an ERA of 2.04. He will get the Opening Day nod for the Blue Jays this evening when they take on the St. Louis Cardinals. First pitch is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. EST.

Lastly, Grove was a late add to the Dodgers' Opening Day roster. He made his Major League debut last season and ended up starting six games with another outing in relief. He allowed 32 hits and 15 runs in 29.1 innings pitched. 

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