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.
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