Orioles pick up option on Andrew Kittredge

All things considered, Baltimore comes out of the 2025 Kittredge carousel looking pretty good. The 35-year-old was having a strong season with the O's before he was moved, pitching to a 3.45 ERA across 31 appearances (31.1 innings); he continued to perform well in Chicago, where he posted a 3.32 ERA in 23 appearances (21.2 innings).

Now, Kittredge will return to Baltimore for his 10th professional season and figures to be a core member of the bullpen. After spending his first seven years in Tampa Bay, Kittredge had a brief stint with St. Louis in 2024 before joining the Orioles ahead of the 2025 season.

On his career, Kittredge holds a solid 3.43 ERA across 309 appearances (338.1 innings). But the right-hander has some stellar seasons under his belt, most notably in 2021. That year, he was 9-3 with a 1.88 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 57 games and was named an American League All-Star with the Rays.

Newly appointed president of baseball operations Mike Elias and his staff have gone out early and aggressively in trying to address one of the team's biggest needs in the bullpen. Before acquiring Kittredge, the club re-signed 2025 standout Rico Garcia, as well as left-handers Dietrich Enns and Josh Walker to one-year major league contracts to compete for full-time roles next season. Yesterday they kept with the reliever theme in claiming right-hander George Soriano off waivers from the Miami Marlins.

As of now, the O's bullpen is still far from a finished product and features many internal question marks. Of last year's options, it is expected that Keegan Akin, who served in the closer role to finish the season, will be back in the mix alongside Chayce McDermott and Albert Suárez. But assuming that Baltimore continues to be aggressive in their pursuit of relievers, the unit could have an entirely new look going into 2026.

Another factor could be whether they pursue impact starters as they are expected to. If the Orioles make sizeable improvements to the starting rotation, right-handers Tyler Wells and Grayson Rodriguez, who is due back from injury, could be candidates to shift into a relief role. While
Rodriguez has only started games in the big leagues, Wells began his career as a reliever and made 44 relief appearances during his rookie year in 2021.

With Kittredge back in the picture, the Orioles should be able to pencil him in for at least 50 innings. That said, the move could just be the beginning of an aggressive offseason by Elias as he addresses the club's pitching needs.