Jul 13, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Andrew Kittredge (39) pitches in the 9th inning against the Miami Marlins at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Question: I love the bats we’ve added. And I’m sure we’re still looking for starting pitchers. But I don’t hear much about the bullpen and that seems like a major weakness. Looking over the projected names in the bullpen currently, there aren’t many I trust. How concerned are you? From: Rick Zittle Answer: Rick, there are still many free agent relievers on the market, and lots of time between now and spring training. The Orioles have already added a proven closer, Ryan Helsley and a setup man, Andrew Kittredge, and the guess here is that they’ll add another proven reliever or two. Last season, the team had 15 pitchers who pitched in relief 15 or more times, so let’s say they’ll need the same number of pitchers capable of doing that this season. Besides Helsley and Kittredge, they have Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns, Kade Strowd, Yaramil Hiraldo, Colin Selby, Yennier Cano, Rico Garcia and Grant Wolfram, all of whom pitched extensively for the team last season. Also on the 40-man roster are Jose Espada, Cameron Foster, Chayce McDermott, Anthony Nunez, George Soriano and Josh Walker. On Wednesday, they re-signed Albert Suárez, who could provide depth in the bullpen, too. It’s possible that Cade Povich, Tyler Wells and Brandon Young could see time in the bullpen, and also possible that Félix Bautista could return late in the season. I’m not taking into account some of the relievers who were signed to minor league contracts, who could be invited to spring training: Andrew Magno, Enoldi Paredes, Richard Guasch, Jeisson Cabrera and Jean Henriquez. From all these names with a few additional acquisitions, I think the Orioles bullpen could be more than adequate. Question: I understand the concept of framing pitches and there some catchers referred to as elite framers, like Adley Rutschman. Is there any metric related to it? Do they track pitches that are called strikes but were actually out of the strike zone? From: Rick Staley Answer: Rick, Baseball Savant has a Catcher Framing Leaderboard. It shows what they call “attack zones,” which are up to four inches away from he strike zone. Patrick Bailey of the San Francisco Giants saved an estimated 25 runs last season by converting 47.7 percent of the pitches taken into strikes, the highest percentage in baseball. Rutschman was 14th of 57 catchers with two runs saved and converting 43.5 percent of the pitches taken into strikes. Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.
SARASOTA—Orioles reliever Andrew Kittredge is likely to start the season on the injured list because of right shoulder inflammation, manager Craig Albernaz said on Wednesday.
Kittredge, who turns 36 on March 17th, has pitched only once in Grapefruit League games. On February 25th, he allowed three runs, two earned, on one hit, a home run, walking one while retiring one batter on a strikeout against Tampa Bay.
“We’ve kind of slowed down his progression,” Albernaz said. “It creeped up his last outing. We want to do right by him and make sure it gets knocked out … Possibly a low probability of Opening Day. We just want to make sure he’s not rushing this. We want to make sure he gets this inflammation knocked out and gets back to being Andrew Kittredge.”
Last year, Kittredge began the season on the injured list after left knee surgery and didn’t pitch for the Orioles until May 21st. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs on July 31st and reacquired by the Orioles on November 4th for cash considerations.
“We don’t want to put any timeline in front of him,” Albernaz said.
Albernaz has decided that Tyler Wells will be a reliever, and he could take Kittredge’s spot in the late innings. Wells has allowed just one hit in three scoreless innings, striking out five and hitting a batter.
“We talked to Wellsy about going into the ‘pen, and Wellsy was great about it,” Albernaz said. “He wants to go out there and compete. It raises our floor in the ‘pen as well.”
Wells can fulfill a variety of roles for the Orioles.
“That’s the biggest value for him,” Albernaz said. “He can pitch leverage. He has the stuff for it, but he can pitch early in the game, too.”
When Wells came to the Orioles in 2021, he began as a reliever.
“That’s why we brought it up to him, and Wellsy was for it,” Albernaz said.
Félix Bautista, who had labrum and rotator cuff surgery last August, threw for the first time on Tuesday from 45 feet.
“He’s put a ton of work in,” Albernaz said. “It’s been awesome to see that. It was a cool day yesterday for him to go out there and throw for the first time.”
At the time of Bautista’s surgery, the Orioles estimated that it would be at least a year before he could pitch again.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com
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