Orioles is right Andrew Kittredge has been slowed by shoulder inflammation and is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, manager Craig Albernaz announced the team’s rhythm this morning (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). An IL season opener for the veteran setter seems possible.
Kittredge, 36 later this month, spent most of the 2025 season with Baltimore after signing a one-year, $10MM contract in free agency. The IO’s traded him to the Cubs in July, getting a young shortstop Wilfri De La Cruz on that deadline exchange. Chicago then traded Kittredge back to Baltimore following the season, before his 2026 team decision. The O’s repaid the Cubs in that second trade and exercised Kittredge’s $9MM option.
The hope at the time of that rediscovery was that Kittredge could reprise his role as the longtime mainstay at Camden Yards. His 2025 season was delayed by a knee dislocation during spring training, but Kittredge was sharp on the mound. In 53 innings (31 1/3 at Baltimore, 21 2/3 at Chicago) he pitched to a 3.40 earned run average with a 30.8% strikeout rate and a 5.3% systematic walk rate. He stopped 49.2% of the balls he faced and shot 14.7%. Kittredge had 15 points and five saves; he was only charged once in the season.
IO’s already lack intimacy Felix Bautista most or all of the 2026 season after shoulder surgery in late August. (He threw for the first time since surgery yesterday, Kubatko notes, but he still has a long road ahead of him.) The Orioles signed Ryan Helsley twice a two-year deal (the second season is a player option) to fill Bautista’s role. Kittredge would have been one of the first setup options to start the season, but those opportunities will now fall to the combine Yennier Cano, Keegan Akin and maybe some more indoor arms going up.
One such thing is being right-handed Tyler Wellswho has been officially notified that he will be released this coming season (via MLB.com’s Jake Rill). Albernaz called Wells a “Swiss army knife” who can play in almost any role, be it in the rotation, long relief or pressure-filled, late-inning settings. “He can make power,” Albernaz said of Wells. “She has her clothes, she has makeup.”
Wells, 31, came to the Orioles from the Twins in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. He was solid in a low-level relief role as a rookie in 2021, then pitched Baltimore 222 1/3 innings of respectable 3.93 ERA ball while serving primarily as a starter in 2022-23. Injuries have hampered him ever since. He has played just seven times in the majors over the past two seasons, due to a UCL tear that required surgery.
Fifty of Wells’ past 55 major league games have been starts, but he will return to a relief role and hope to emerge as a contributor in a bullpen that needs a few things to break through this coming season. The O’s are banking on a rebound from Helsley, who ended the 2025 season on a tear after being traded to the Mets. They hope the aforementioned Cano can bounce back — if not all the way to his 2023 All-Star form at least to something closer to his 2024 output (3.15 ERA) than his 2025 output (5.12 ERA).
Healthy and productive sources can be helpful in a short relief role. Wells sat 92-93 mph with his heater as a starter but averaged better than 95 mph on the field back in 2021. His career 11.6% swing-strike rate is slightly better than average, but he was at 13.3% during that one bullpen season. Wells has shown good command throughout his major league career (6.2 BB%), but his 29% strikeout rate as a rookie reliever remains above the 22.8% mark.
Injured second baseman Jackson Holiday and gave an update to reporters, revealing that he will begin swinging the bat tomorrow (link via Andy Kostka of the Baltimore Banner). He also started throwing last week.
Holliday broke the hamate bone in his right hand/wrist early in camp and had surgery to fix the problem (removing the broken “hook” from the bone in question). A common injury and process for position players also usually comes with a recovery period of between four and eight weeks. The expectation is that Holiday will be ruled out for the start of the season, but his return should not be too far into the regular season. For the Holiday and Jordan Westburg down to start the season, the O’s will turn into a combination of Coby Mayo, Blaze Alexander, Jeremiah Jackson, Bryan Ramos and non-registered veteran Thairo Estrada at second and third base earlier in the year.
