Andrew Kittredge is back in the orange and black — for the second time in less than a year. That fact alone tells you something about how the Orioles view him, and maybe about how he views the Orioles. After a productive first run in Baltimore last season ended at the trade deadline, the two sides wasted little time in November agreeing to a reunion. Now, heading into 2026, the 35-year-old right-hander will be expected to provide this young, rebuilding bullpen with experience, reliability, and a solid
track record. He’s done it before, but there’s one hitch this time — he’’ll be starting the year on the injured list.
Kittredge has been around. That’s not a knock; it’s a fact. And quite an accomplishment for a reliever who didn’t stick in the majors until his late twenties. Drafted by the Mariners in 2008, he only debuted in 2016, and didn’t regular appearances until after being dealt to Tampa Bay, where he soon found his footing, grinding through middle relief work until he emerged as one of the Rays’ most valuable arms.
His peak came in 2021, when he posted a stellar 1.88 ERA over 71 2/3 innings pitched and earned his first-ever All-Star nod. It was nice validation for a dark horse not guaranteed to crack the Majors. Between 2020 and 2022, in fact, Kittredge was quietly exceptional, with a combined 2.17 ERA and 0.973 WHIP over 82 games. Tampa Bay always seemed to be discovering gems like this.
Until they lost it, and in this case, I mean Tommy John surgery, which was the diagnosis for Kittredge in June 2022, costing him significant time and disrupting the momentum he had built. Returning to the mound in 2023, he took a step backward, appearing in just 14 games, and in 2024, Tampa Bay dealt him to the Cardinals. Even then, he wasn’t bad, posting a cumulative 2.84 ERA in his next two seasons. When he eventually found his way to Baltimore on a one-year deal for the 2025 season, there was cautious optimism tempered by the awareness that players coming off major arm procedures don’t always return as the same pitcher.
Kittredge didn’t even take the mound for the Orioles until May 21st — a knee issue during spring training delayed his debut. That’s not the ideal start, but once he got going, he looked much like the pitcher Tampa Bay had relied on. In 31 games in Baltimore, he went 2-2 with a 3.45 ERA, and equivalent peripheral numbers. The stuff was there.
Unfortunately, the team wasn’t — in a playoff sense, at least. The Orioles finished 75-87, last in the AL East, and shipped Kittredge off to Chicago at the trade deadline in exchange for Wilfri De La Cruz, an 18-year-old Dominican shortstop prospect who’s now ranked 22nd in Baltimore’s farm system.
Kittredge’s time with the Cubs was, if anything, even better. He went 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA and a career-best 13.3 strikeout rate, then pitched in the postseason for good measure. He was, in short, exactly what a contending team wants: a veteran arm pitching in meaningful games with a clean ledger.
And yet, November came, and the Orioles came calling again. For cash considerations, Kittredge returned to Baltimore. The Birds-Cubs-Birds loop was completed, and the net result — sending Kittredge away in July and buying him back in November — was essentially that Baltimore acquired De La Cruz on the cheap while retaining the reliever it wanted all along.
That’s not a bad outcome, frankly. Kittredge brings something the Orioles’ bullpen sorely needs: a veteran who has pitched in October, who knows how to handle a high-leverage appearance without rattling, and who has the kind of career ERA (3.43 lifetime) that suggests consistency even across different teams and contexts. With Felix Bautista still working his way back from shoulder surgery, Baltimore needs experience at the back end, and Kittredge provides it.
The hope, of course, is that Kittredge’s getting ruled out for Opening Day due to shoulder inflammation — which manager Craig Albernaz announced last week — is simply precautionary, and that the team is protecting him rather than rushing him back in late March. If and when Kittredge returns healthy, Baltimore should have a valuable, proven arm stabilizing the back of its bullpen. There’s an “if and when” question here, though, and it’s worth monitoring Kittredge’s health as spring progresses.
Kittredge and the Orioles are running it back once more this year. Whether that partnership flourishes in 2026 depends, for now, on a shoulder that needs to cooperate. But the veteran righty has overcome worse odds before, including Tommy John surgery in ‘22, and an MLB career that didn’t get off the ground until his late-twenties. It’ll be worth seeing what he can do this season.
