The Orioles and the free agent reliever Andrew Kittredge they agree to a one-year, $10 million guarantee, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports. The Paragon Sports International client receives a $9 million salary for next season and is guaranteed a $1 million buyout on a $9 million club option for 2026. Baltimore has a full roster of 40 men and will have to make a move when the contract is finalized.
Kittredge will step into a prep role opposite the star closer Happy Baptist who is returning from Tommy John surgery. The veteran joins the hard throw Seranthony DomÃnguez, Yennier Cano AND Keegan Akin as potential high-leverage pieces in Brandon Hyde’s bullpen. Kittredge has plenty of experience in the seventh and eighth innings. Led the National League and finished second in MLB (behind Houston Bryan Abreu) with 37 catches for the Cardinals last season.
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The steed has earned the trust of St. Louis manager Oli Marmol as the right-hand man opposite the star closer Ryan Helsley. He worked 70 2/3 innings with a 2.80 earned run average. Kittredge struck out a league-high 23.3% of batters faced while limiting walks to a modest 7% clip. He missed at-bats on an above-average 13.7% of his shots while reasonably keeping the ball on the ground.
Kittredge, who turns 35 just before Inauguration Day, is no flamethrower. He worked in the 94-95 MPH range with both the sinker and four-seam fastball. This is solid but not great velocity for a modern late-inning reliever. Kittredge’s specialty is hitting hitters with a positive slider. He turned to the breaking ball about half the time. Opponents hit .177 against the pitch while crossing it more than 40% of the time they offer. He particularly excelled at getting hitters to chase bad pitches. Opponents swung at nearly 42% of Kittredge’s pitches outside the strike zone. Among pitchers with more than 50 innings, only Arizona is left-handed Joe Mantiply I got chases at a higher pace.
The only knock against Kittredge last season was a problematic platoon split. Pitchers who rely on a slider-sinker mix often struggle with opposite-hand hitters. That was certainly the case for Kittredge last season. He stifled right-handed hitters to a line of .188/.247/.291 in 183 plate appearances. Lefties started at a .296/.337/.571 clip with six homers in 104 trips. His career platoon splits aren’t that drastic, but lefties have managed a solid .244/.320/.455 slash line in more than 400 plate appearances against him. Baltimore has a trio of lefties who are locks for bullpen spots if healthy: Akin, Gregorio Soto AND Cionel Perez. This gives Hyde some options if he wants to protect Kittredge from the best left-handed bats on opposing lineups.
Despite his vulnerability to lefties, Kittredge has a strong multi-year track record. He debuted with the Rays in 2017 and spent parts of seven seasons in Kevin Cash’s bullpen. Kittredge worked in middle relief for the first few years, but had a breakout in ’21. He pitched a team-best 71 2/3 innings of 1.88 ERA ball to earn an All-Star selection. Kittredge injured his elbow early the following year and required Tommy John surgery. The timing of this procedure limited him to 31 appearances between 2022 and 2023.
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Tampa Bay traded him to St. Louis last winter as a winger Richie Palacios. Kittredge picked up where he left off before surgery during his lone season with the Cardinals. He owns a 2.48 ERA in 162 appearances dating back to the start of the ’21 season. That made him one of the best relievers in this year’s free agent class, although his age limited his contract upside.
More to come
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