Orioles Notes: Akin, Kittredge, O’Neill, Kremer, Holliday

Injuries have (again) been a major storyline of the Orioles’ season, but the team announced today that left-hander Keegan Akin has been activated from the 15-day injured list.  Akin’s return comes a day after Andrew Kittredge and Tyler O’Neill were both activated Friday from the 15-day IL and seven-day concussion IL, respectively.  Right-hander Cameron Foster was optioned to Triple-A for Akin, while outfielder Johnathan Rodriguez and right-hander Jose Espada were optioned to Triple-A yesterday for Kittredge and O’Neill.

Both Akin (groin strain) and Kittredge (shoulder inflammation) had spent the entire season on the IL, and Kittredge made his season debut yesterday, tossing a 1-2-3 inning out of the bullpen in the Orioles’ 10-3 win over the Red Sox.  Initially signed to a one-year, $9MM contract in the 2024-25 offseason, Kittredge was dealt to the Cubs at last summer’s trade deadline, but Chicago then swapped Kittredge back to Baltimore in early November, and the O’s exercised a $9MM club option on the reliever’s services for 2026.

Kittredge and Akin are expected to be high-leverage arms in Baltimore’s pen, and Akin is the team’s top left-handed relief option.  With both Akin and Dietrich Enns out of action, Grant Wolfram had been the Orioles’ only southpaw reliever for the last several days.

O’Neill was sidelined after hitting .241/.353/.345 over his first 34 plate appearances, and since he didn’t play yesterday, April 8 remains the outfielder’s last game.  The always-uncertain nature of concussion symptoms led to an absence of over two weeks, yet hopefully O’Neill has now put the issue entirely behind him.

Even with three players now back in action, Baltimore’s injured list remains 10 players deep.  Dean Kremer was the latest player sidelined, as the right-hander was placed on the 15-day IL on Thursday (retroactive to April 20) due to a right quad strain.  Right-hander Brandon Young was called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move, and Young started Friday’s game in Kremer’s place, getting the win while allowing three runs on seven hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings of work.

Young will probably get an extended run as Baltimore’s fifth starter since Kremer will miss “several weeks,” as O’s president of baseball operations Mike Elias told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters.  Elias said Kremer’s injury surfaced during his between-starts prep work, and that “our plan is to try to keep his arm in as good of shape as possible because it’s not bothering him too much to throw right now, but we’ve got to let that thing heal and get his lower body condition back.”

The injury is another setback in what has already been an unusual season for Kremer, who began the season in Triple-A simply because the Orioles had five preferred options in their starting rotation.  Zach Eflin‘s Tommy John surgery created an avenue for Kremer’s return, and the righty posted a 4.09 ERA over two starts and 11 innings before his quad strain surfaced.

With Kremer out and Eflin gone for the entire season, Cade Povich is now the Orioles’ top depth arm if another injury should strike the rotation.  Albert Suarez and Tyler Wells are both ex-starters turned into multi-inning relievers, and conceivably either pitcher could be stretched out again for at least a piggyback type of role if even more starting help was needed beyond Povich.

Elias provided some updates to Kubatko and company on several other O’s players, including the news that Enns (foot infection) also seems to be nearing a return from the 15-day IL.  Heston Kjerstad (hamstring strain) has yet to play this season, but is participating in full baseball activities and could be close to a minor league rehab assignment.

Concerns were raised earlier this week when Jackson Holliday underwent a fresh set of tests on his injured right hand, but Elias said the MRI, CT scan, and x-rays all came back clean.  Holliday underwent hamate bone surgery on February 12 and was expected to start playing within the usual four to eight weeks, but his rehab work has now been paused twice due to continued soreness in the right hand.

Holliday discussed his latest setback with reporters yesterday, saying that a foul tip in Tuesday’s rehab game left him feeling “like I broke my hand again.  Obviously, kind of concerning taking a swing and having that kind of pain, but I guess it’s not normal, but obviously nothing structurally wrong, and I guess whenever a tendon rolls over a nerve it can kind of cause that.”

The plan is to keep Holliday shut down for another week before restarting the rehab process.  The clean tests at least provided some evidence that Holliday’s continued hand problems aren’t anything overtly serious, and Elias described the situation as “all within the possible normal spectrum of outcomes with the hamate injury….We’ve seen these come really quick for some players, and others take a long time to feel like themselves. So we want to let him get through this on an individual basis, and we’re giving him as much time as he needs, but we’re eager to have him back and welcome back with open arms once he’s ready.”