Last September, as the Orioles waded through an unprecedented season, they did so largely without star power. The two men likeliest to carry such a mantle were not in a position to do.
Left-hander John Means, an All-Star in 2019, had an ERA of 8.10 through six outings of a stop-and-start campaign. The reigning Most Valuable Oriole, Trey Mancini, was absent entirely, nearing completion of a six-month chemotherapy treatment for the colon cancer diagnosis that kept him away from baseball in 2020.
Both were back and largely at their best Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, but two stars does not a complete team make.