Andrew Kittredge’s second tour in Baltimore gave the Orioles innings, saves and a few big moments - but not much in the way of real certainty.
The club brought him back on November 4, 2025, purchasing his contract from the Chicago Cubs just over three months after Mike Elias sent him to Chicago at the 2025 trade deadline. At the time, it looked like a tidy bit of business. Baltimore had already gotten teenage shortstop prospect Wilfri De La Cruz back in the earlier deal, and then managed to bring Kittredge back for cash considerations, a low-cost way to patch up the bullpen.
The Orioles expected the veteran right-hander to work in the 7th and 8th innings behind Ryan Helsley. That plan hit an early snag when Kittredge opened the season on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation. He finally made his 2026 debut on April 24, and his first outing back fit the script: a scoreless 7th inning in a win over the Red Sox.
For a while, that setup role looked solid. Eight of his first 13 appearances came in the 7th or 8th innings, and if you set aside a rough May 3 outing against the Yankees - seven runs allowed while recording only one out - he was rolling. Over his first 12 appearances, Kittredge posted a 1.74 ERA, struck out 12 across 10.1 innings and held opponents to a .179 batting average against.
Then Helsley’s health forced a change. The would-be closer first went on the injured list on May 1, and by June, Kittredge was increasingly the man getting the ball in the 9th. From the start of June through the All-Star break, he made nine of his 16 appearances in the final inning, and he kept producing: a 1.88 ERA, a .218 BAA, three saves and three holds.
He stayed in the middle of the action after the break, too. Kittredge picked up a save in one of Baltimore’s wildest games of the year, finishing off the final out of a 12-inning comeback against the Tigers after the Orioles erased a 7-0 deficit.
From July 17 through August 29, he kept runs off the board at a 1.56 ERA clip while adding five saves and five holds. Even when things went sideways, Baltimore usually escaped cleanly - his two blown saves in that stretch both ended in Orioles extra-inning wins.
But the warning signs were there. After spending most of the first half around a .200 opponent batting average against, he allowed hitters to post a .284 mark across his first 19 second-half outings.
That slide finally caught up with him in Colorado. In the opener of the Orioles’ three-game road series against the Rockies, Kittredge should have been tagged with the blown save and loss, but Colton Cowser saved the day with the defensive play of the season, robbing a walkoff home run.
Two days later, Kittredge came in with Baltimore leading 3-2 and trying to lock up the series. He struck out one batter and got a flyout to start the inning, then gave up back-to-back two-out doubles to blow the save.
The Rockies won in extra innings.
That missed chance loomed large. The Orioles’ failure to take the series from Colorado was viewed as the first death knell for their playoff hopes, and Craig Albernaz appeared to lose trust in Kittredge after that. He made only six appearances in September, and in those outings he posted a 7.20 ERA and a .318 BAA.
Kittredge’s season ended with a -0.4 bWAR, a 3.54 ERA, 11 saves and 40 strikeouts over 48.1 innings in 55 appearances. His 1.37 WHIP was his worst since 2018, and his 7.4 K/9 was his lowest since 2022. He also became the first Orioles closer since 2021 to lead the team in saves with 11 or fewer.
The record still shows Baltimore went 36-19 in games he pitched. But the broader numbers tell a flatter story: negative WAR, negative Win Probability Added and a line that never quite matched the leverage of the role he was asked to fill.
Kittredge is now officially a free agent, and with Rico Garcia, Grant Wolfram, Yennier Cano and the hopefully healthy Helsley and Félix Bautista in the bullpen picture, there’s not much reason to expect a reunion in Baltimore. Still, with the Orioles focusing on starting pitching and outfield depth this offseason, a cheap deal could always open the door to another return.
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