Orioles activate reliever Andrew Kittredge

The Orioles announced today that right-hander Andrew Kittredge has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Right-hander Chayce McDermott was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk as the corresponding move.

Kittredge, 35, will be making his Oriole debut as soon as he gets into a game. He signed a free agent deal with them in the offseason but dealt with some left knee soreness during spring training. He required a debridement procedure on that knee and landed on the IL to start the season. He started a rehab assignment earlier this month and is now healthy enough to finally pitch in Baltimore orange for the first time.

A lot has changed during the relatively short timespan of his knee injury. The O’s came into 2025 as clear contenders, having made the postseason in each of the two previous seasons. They gave Kittredge a one-year, $10MM deal with the plan of adding him to a competitive bullpen that already featured strong arms like Félix Bautista, Yennier Cano and others.

But the O’s have been the most disappointing team in baseball this year. They are currently on an eight-game losing streak, dropping their record to 15-32. They are next to the basement of the American League standings, only one game up on the White Sox. They are at least six games back of every other A.L. team. FanGraphs only gives them a 1.8% chance of cracking the postseason at this point. They recently fired manager Brandon Hyde, replacing him with third base coach Tony Mansolino.

That means Kittredge is more likely to finish the season pitching for a different club than pitching meaningful games for the Orioles in September. As a veteran on a one-year deal, he’ll be a natural trade candidate this summer. He’s not a pure rental, as his deal contains a $9MM club option for 2026 with a $1MM buyout, but it would still be logical for the O’s to flip him for young talent if they can.

Kittredge had a strong season with the Cardinals in 2024. He logged 70 2/3 innings with a 2.80 earned run average. His 23.3% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 45.2% ground ball rate were all a bit better than league average. That’s why the O’s shelled out a decent amount of money to bring him aboard for this year. If he is able to put his knee injury behind him and put up numbers like that again, he’ll certainly be in demand this summer. For now, he’ll jump into Mansolino’s bullpen as the O’s try to bank a few more wins in the coming months.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images