Injury Notes: Murphy, Kittredge, Lodolo, Canning, Pushard
Braves catcher Sean Murphy will be with High-A Rome tomorrow, per Mark Bowman of MLB.com. It’s not yet determined if he will begin a rehab assignment or simply take live batting practice. Either way, Bowman suggests that Murphy could be trending towards a return before the month of May. Rehab assignments for position players can last as long as 20 days.
Murphy has been hobbled by injuries the past two years and slashed .197/.293/.384 since the start of 2024. That was a notable drop from the .240/.336/.441 line he had in his career at the end of the 2023 season. Ideally, his return from September hip surgery will get him back on that previous track. Murphy was expected back at some point in May but this latest update suggests he could beat that target.
When he gets back, it could impact other players on the roster. Jonah Heim is currently backing up Drake Baldwin. It’s expected that the club will use the designated hitter spot to give regular at-bats to both Murphy and Baldwin. Perhaps they could cut Heim from the roster or keep him as a third catcher. Dominic Smith is getting time in the DH spot for now and he has performed well, though in a small sample size of two games.
Some more injury notes from around the league…
- Orioles right-hander Andrew Kittredge is set to begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk tomorrow, per Jake Rill of MLB.com. He missed most of spring training due to shoulder inflammation and started the season on the IL. He posted a 3.40 earned run average last year with a 30.8% strikeout rate, 5.3% walk rate and 49.2% ground ball rate. Baltimore has Ryan Helsley in the closer’s role. Once Kittredge is off the IL, he’ll jump into a setup role alongside guys like Yennier Cano and Tyler Wells.
- Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo is set to make a rehab start on Thursday, per Charlie Goldsmith of Charlie’s Chalkboard. A blister sent the southpaw to the IL to start the year. Goldsmith suggests Lodolo could rejoin the club for their series in Miami next week, implying Lodolo would only need to make the one rehab start. Cincinnati is also without Hunter Greene to start the year, so it would be great to get Lodolo back sooner rather than later. The rotation is currently manned by Andrew Abbott, Brady Singer, Rhett Lowder, Chase Burns and Brandon Williamson.
- Padres right-hander Griffin Canning tossed three innings in a simulated game yesterday, per Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune, and will begin a rehab assignment on Saturday. Rehab assignments for pitchers can last as long as 30 days, so it seems Canning is trending towards a return in April or perhaps in early May. It was reported a few weeks ago that late April would be possible but that May or June would be more likely. Perhaps Canning is now on a path for the more optimistic end of that window.
- The Cardinals today placed right-hander Matt Pushard on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to March 30th, due to right knee patellar tendinitis. Fellow righty Gordon Graceffo was recalled as the corresponding move. It’s unclear how long Pushard is expected to be out. As a Rule 5 pick, he has to spend at least 90 days on the active roster this year or else the Rule 5 restrictions will carry over into the 2027 season.
Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images
Orioles Designate Jackson Kowar For Assignment
The Orioles finalized their Opening Day roster, announcing that right-hander Jackson Kowar and infielder Bryan Ramos were designated for assignment. (Ramos’ DFA was originally reported last night.) Baltimore also placed Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg on the 10-day IL. Holliday is recovering from a hamate fracture, and Westburg is attempting to rehab a UCL tear. Righties Andrew Kittredge (shoulder inflammation) and lefty Keegan Akin (groin strain) open the season on the 15-day IL.
Outfielder Dylan Beavers will avoid an IL stint after dealing with a knee issue late in camp. He’s on the Opening Day roster. Utilityman Jeremiah Jackson also grabbed an Opening Day spot. Righties Yaramil Hiraldo and Anthony Nunez won bullpen spots, as did southpaw Grant Wolfram. Righty Albert Suarez, who had an opt-out in his minor league deal, was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk, so it seems he’ll forgo that opt-out and agree to open the season with the Orioles’ Triple-A club.
A hard-throwing former first-rounder with experience in parts of three MLB seasons, the 29-year-old Kowar allowed one run in six spring frames for the O’s. He walked four and struck out four. The former Florida Gator has an ERA north of 8.00 in 91 MLB frames, though he posted a 4.24 mark in 17 innings with Seattle last year. He’s still looking for his first real opportunity post-Tommy John surgery and has been regularly bounced around the waiver/DFA circuit dating back to last season.
Jackson had been in a battle for the final bench spot with several others, but he’s increasingly seemed like the favorite. Baltimore granted veteran Thairo Estrada his release a couple days ago, shortly after infielder Luis Vázquez suffered a broken thumb. Jackson and Ramos looked like the final two candidates for that spot, so when it was reported last night that Ramos was being DFA, Jackson’s spot looked all but secure barring a last-minute acquisition.
The 25-year-old (26 tomorrow) isn’t going to sustain the .365 BABIP that led to last year’s .276/.328/.447 debut effort, but he’s a versatile right-handed bat who can back up at multiple infield and outfield spots. With Holliday and Westburg beginning the season on the injured list, the Orioles are entrusting third base and second base to Coby Mayo and Blaze Alexander, respectively. Neither has much big league experience — not that Jackson does either — so it’s sensible to have another capable option at each spot.
Suarez reportedly drew interest from other clubs but will seemingly stick around as a depth option. It’s a nice luxury for the O’s to have. The 36-year-old righty has given Baltimore a 3.59 ERA in 145 1/3 frames across the past two seasons but was non-tendered in the November after a flexor strain ended his 2025 season. He returned on a minor league pact and will presumably open the year in Norfolk.
Orioles Injury Notes: Akin, Kjerstad, Vazquez, Beavers, Kittredge
The Orioles are suddenly dealing with a flurry of injury concerns less than a week before Opening Day, as left-hander Keegan Akin, outfielder Heston Kjerstad, and utilityman Luis Vazquez will all undergo imaging on Monday. (MLB.com’s Jake Rill and Paige Leckie were among those to report the news.) Akin suffered an adductor issue while warming up in the bullpen on Saturday, Kjerstad has been sidelined with right hamstring tightness for a few days, and Vazquez was hit by a pitch on his right thumb in today’s game with the Nationals.
More will be known once the testing takes place, and of the trio, Akin was the only one assured of a place on the Opening Day roster. With the exception of an injury-marred 2023 season, Akin has become a valued member of the Orioles’ pen over the last four years, able to both eat innings and deliver in high-leverage situations.
The 2024 season was Akin’s most effective campaign, and while he still had a 3.41 ERA over 63 1/3 innings in 2025, Akin’s strikeout rate (22%) and walk rate (12.3%) both declined from his previous season. Akin’s 4.44 SIERA was over a run higher than his real-world ERA, and the lefty might’ve benefited quite a bit from a .267 BABIP.
These concerns notwithstanding, Akin was still projected to be the top left-handed option in Baltimore’s relief corps. Dietrich Enns and Grant Wolfram are the team’s other left-handers, though if Akin has to miss time on the injured list, the Orioles wouldn’t necessarily replace Akin with another southpaw.
The bullpen already took a significant hit this spring with the news that Andrew Kittredge would be starting the season on the 15-day IL due to some shoulder inflammation. Though it has been almost a month since the righty’s lone game of Spring Training, Kittredge told the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka that he believes he’ll miss just the minimum 15 days, as a rehab stint with Triple-A Norfolk will hopefully be enough to get Kittredge fully ramped up.
Kjerstad was expected to start the season in Triple-A, though naturally a possible stint on the IL doesn’t do him any good in terms of cost development time, as Kjerstad is still struggling to establish himself as a big leaguer. The second overall pick of the 2020 draft had a promising .248/.336/.411 slash line over 147 plate appearances with the O’s in 2023-24, but he took a step back with a .192/.240/.327 slash in 167 PA last season.
Vazquez has only a .404 OPS over 67 career PA in the majors (with the 2024 Cubs and 2025 Orioles), but his ability to play all over the infield and at least hold his own as a corner outfielder was putting him in the running to win a backup job on Baltimore’s bench. With Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg starting the season on the injured list, the Orioles’ infield depth has already been stretched, opening the door for Vazquez to potentially break camp with the team.
A thumb injury, of course, would make Vazquez’s endeavors all for naught. Even if the x-rays are negative, Vazquez may need a few days or even a 10-day IL stint to fully heal up, so bench candidates like Jeremiah Jackson, Weston Wilson, or others may stand a better chance of making the 26-man roster.
The position-player mix could be shaken up further if Dylan Beavers‘ right knee discomfort becomes anything serious. Beavers was a late scratch from Friday’s lineup due to his sore knee, but both Beavers and manager Craig Albernaz told Rill the outfielder was feeling improvement yesterday, so there doesn’t seem to be any concern yet that Beavers will miss any time during the regular season.
Orioles Notes: Kittredge, Wells, Bautista, Holliday
Orioles righty Andrew Kittredge has been slowed by shoulder inflammation and is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day, manager Craig Albernaz announced to the team’s beat this morning (via Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com). A season-opening IL stint for the veteran setup man seems likely.
Kittredge, 36 later this month, spent the bulk of the 2025 season with Baltimore after signing a one-year, $10MM contract in free agency. The O’s flipped him to the Cubs in July, netting teenage shortstop Wilfri De La Cruz in that deadline swap. Chicago then traded Kittredge back to Baltimore following the season, before the decision on his 2026 club option was due. The O’s sent cash back to the Cubs in that second swap and promptly exercised Kittredge’s $9MM option.
The hope at the time of that reacquisition was that Kittredge could reprise his role as a key late-inning arm at Camden Yards. His 2025 season was delayed by a debridement procedure in his knee during spring training, but Kittredge was sharp when on the mound. In 53 innings (31 1/3 in Baltmore, 21 2/3 in Chicago) he pitched to a combined 3.40 earned run average with a big 30.8% strikeout rate and tidy 5.3% walk rate. He kept 49.2% of the batted balls against him on the ground and recorded an excellent 14.7% swinging-strike rate. Kittredge tallied 15 holds and five saves; he was only charged with one blown save on the season.
The O’s are already without closer Félix Bautista for most or all of the 2026 season after he underwent shoulder surgery in late August. (He threw for the first time since surgery yesterday, Kubatko notes, but still has a long rehab process ahead of him.) The Orioles signed Ryan Helsley two a two-year deal (the second season being a player option) to fill Bautista’s role. Kittredge would’ve been one of the primary setup options to begin the season, but those opportunities will now fall to a combination of Yennier Cano, Keegan Akin and perhaps some other in-house arms who step up.
One such possibility is right-hander Tyler Wells, who has been officially informed that he’ll pitch in relief this coming season (via MLB.com’s Jake Rill). Albernaz referred to Wells as a “Swiss army knife” who can pitch in virtually any role, be it in the rotation, long relief or more pressure-packed, late-inning settings. “He can pitch leverage,” Albernaz said of Wells. “He has the stuff for it, he has the makeup.”
Wells, 31, came to the Orioles from the Twins in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. He was solid in a low-leverage relief role as a rookie in 2021, then gave Baltimore 222 1/3 innings of respectable 3.93 ERA ball while working primarily as a starter in 2022-23. Injuries have derailed him since. He’s pitched only seven times in the majors across the past two seasons, thanks to a UCL tear that necessitated surgery.
Fifty of Wells’ past 55 major league appearances have been starts, but he’ll move back to a relief role and hope to emerge as a contributor in a bullpen that needs a few things to break its way this coming season. The O’s are banking on a rebound from Helsley, who had a dreadful finish to the 2025 season after being traded to the Mets. They’re also hoping the aforementioned Cano can rebound — if not all the way to his 2023 All-Star form then at least to something closer to his 2024 output (3.15 ERA) than his 2025 results (5.12 ERA).
A healthy and productive Wells could be a boon in a short relief role. Wells sat 92-93 mph with his heater as a starter but averaged better than 95 mph on the pitch back in 2021. His career 11.6% swinging-strike rate is a slight bit better than average, but he was at 13.3% during that lone bullpen season. Wells has shown good command throughout his major league career (6.2 BB%), but his 29% strikeout rate as a rookie reliever sits well above his career 22.8% mark.
Injured second baseman Jackson Holliday also provided reporters with an update, revealing that he’ll begin swinging a bat tomorrow (link via the Baltimore Banner’s Andy Kostka). He also began throwing last week.
Holliday suffered a fractured hamate bone in his right hand/wrist early in camp and underwent surgery to address the issue (removing the fractured “hook” from the bone in question). It’s a common injury and procedure for position players and tends to come with a recovery period between four and eight weeks. The expectation is that Holliday will be sidelined to begin the season, but his return shouldn’t come too far into the regular season. With Holliday and Jordan Westburg down to begin the season, the O’s will turn to a combination of Coby Mayo, Blaze Alexander, Jeremiah Jackson, Bryan Ramos and non-roster veteran Thairo Estrada at second base and third base early in the year.
Orioles Announce Several Roster Moves
The Orioles announced a series of roster tweaks on Thursday. Baltimore has selected right-hander Anthony Nunez to their 40-man roster. Right-hander Shawn Dubin and outfielders Dylan Carlson and Daniel Johnson have been outrighted off the roster. Left-hander Josh Walker and right-hander Carson Ragsdale were designated for assignment. Baltimore claimed outfielder Pedro Leon off waivers from the Astros, while left-hander Jose Castillo was claimed by the Mets.
The team also exercised its club option on right-hander Andrew Kittredge, whom they acquired from the Cubs earlier this week. The Orioles declined their club option on utilityman Jorge Mateo, who is now a free agent. They also announced the signing of outfielder Leody Taveras, a deal that had been reported yesterday. The litany of moves brought Baltimore’s 40-man roster to 40 players.
Nunez came over at the trade deadline in the Cedric Mullins deal, along with fellow pitching prospects Raimon Gómez and Chandler Marsh. The 24-year-old was originally signed as a shortstop by San Diego in 2019. After a pair of uninspiring seasons at the lowest rungs of the minors, he converted to pitching. The Mets signed Nunez in 2024. He tossed 10 innings between the Complex league and Single-A that season. High-A hitters were no match for Nunez in 2025, as he dominated with a 0.63 ERA and a 46.2% strikeout rate over 14 1/3 innings. Nunez moved to Double-A in May and continued to pitch well, recording a 2.10 ERA over 22 outings. After the trade, he pitched a game for Double-A Chesapeake before heading to Triple-A. Nunez held hitters to a .125 batting average while striking them out at a 32.3% clip over 16 games with Norfolk.
Carlson and Johnson cleared waivers and elected free agency. Dubin also made it through waivers and is a minor league free agent. Carlson is the biggest name of the bunch, but it’s been a while since his days as a top prospect for the Cardinals. Since a strong 2021 campaign with St. Louis, he’s steadily declined at the plate. The 27-year-old bottomed out with a 67 wRC+ over 96 games split between the Cardinals and Rays in 2024. Baltimore took a flyer on him, but he scuffled to a .203/.278/.336 slash line across 241 plate appearances. He’ll now be looking for his fourth team in three seasons.
Johnson has spent parts of four MLB seasons with three teams. Baltimore grabbed him off waivers from San Francisco in August. He went 5-for-24 in 17 games with the Orioles. Dubin was also an August waiver claim, coming over from the Astros. He threw eight innings with Baltimore, pitching to a 3.38 ERA.
Walker has bounced around plenty over the last year and a half. The Mets traded him to the Pirates midway through 2024. He signed with Toronto as a minor league free agent last offseason. The Blue Jays traded him to the Phillies at the end of May. After Philadelphia designated him for assignment in August, the Orioles claimed him off waivers. Walker has a 6.59 ERA across 26 big-league appearances over the past three seasons.
Ragsdale and Castillo are no strangers to waiver claims, including moves that involved each other. Baltimore claimed Ragsdale from San Francisco in August, only to toss him back on the waiver pile when they grabbed Castillo. The Orioles claimed Ragsdale again in September, this time from the Braves.
Houston signed Leon in 2021. He reached Triple-A that same season. Leon slashed .299/.372/.514 with Sugar Land in 2024, leading to a brief call-up. He recorded a pair of hits over seven games with the Astros before heading back to Triple-A. An MCL sprain cost Leon the majority of the 2025 campaign. He played just 25 games this past season.
Orioles Acquire Andrew Kittredge From Cubs
The Orioles have reunited with Andrew Kittredge, as the team announced that the right-hander has been acquired from the Cubs in exchange for cash considerations. While not mentioned in the Orioles’ press release, it can be assumed that the O’s will be exercising Kittredge’s $9MM club option for the 2026 season rather than swinging a trade for the reliever just to buy him out for $1MM.
Last January, Kittredge came to Baltimore for the first time when he signed a one-year deal worth $10MM in guaranteed money — a $9MM salary for 2025, and the $1MM in buyout money. A debridement procedure in his left knee delayed Kittredge’s 2025 debut until late May, but he was in fine form afterwards, and he became an obvious trade candidate when the O’s fell out of contention. The result was a deal to the Cubs at the trade deadline, with Baltimore netting infield prospect Wilfri De La Cruz in return.
Kittredge’s overall numbers were even better in Chicago after the trade, and he made five appearances for the Cubs in the postseason. For 2025 as a whole, Kittredge posted a 3.40 ERA and a superb set of advanced metrics. His 30.8% strikeout rate and 5.3% walk rate each sat in the 92nd percentile of all pitchers, his 49.2% grounder rate was far above average, and his 41.6% chase rate was the best of any pitcher in baseball.
Today’s trade means that the Orioles have now gotten Kittredge and De La Cruz in their organization, plus they saved roughly $2.8MM in salary when the Cubs took on the remainder of Kittredge’s 2025 salary. Had everything gone to plan for Baltimore this season, the team surely had an eye towards exercising Kittredge’s club option anyway, so they’ll now get to make that decision after all and address a bullpen need.
Felix Bautista will miss most or all of the 2026 season recovering from shoulder surgery, plus Kittredge was one of several relievers dealt away by the Orioles at the deadline. Even with Kittredge’s contributions, Baltimore’s bullpen was one of the weakest in the league in 2025, and rebuilding the relief core seems to be one of the club’s top priorities this offseason.
From the Cubs’ perspective, passing the buck (literally and figuratively) on Kittredge’s club option seems like an unusual move. While Kittredge is entering his age-36 season and Chicago has traditionally been wary about overspending on relief pitching, $9MM seems like a fairly safe investment given how well Kittredge performed in 2025. The Wrigleyville bullpen was quite solid this year, yet since many names from that group are free agents, exercising Kittredge’s club option would’ve been a way for the Cubs to partially solidify things early in the winter.
Since Shota Imanaga‘s three-year club option was also declined by the Cubs earlier today, quite a bit of projected money has now been cleared off the team’s books between Imanaga and Kittredge. As per RosterResource, Chicago has an estimated 2026 payroll of roughly $148.3MM and a luxury tax number of $164MM — well below their $206.4MM payroll and $227.3MM tax figure from 2025. While Wrigleyville fans have a right to be concerned over how much ownership is willing to spend, this situation could mean that the Cubs are making room for a bigger-ticket acquisition or two this offseason.
Cubs To Acquire Andrew Kittredge
July 31: The return for Kittredge is Dominican shortstop Wilfri De La Cruz, per Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. De La Cruz was just signed by the Cubs earlier this year, securing a $2.3MM bonus, the highest of their 2025 international class. Baseball America lists him as the #20 prospect in the Cubs’ system. He’s a 17-year-old switch-hitter. Listed at 6’3″, BA speculates that he might end up at third base in the long run.
July 30: The Cubs are addressing a need in their bullpen by acquiring Andrew Kittredge from the Orioles, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.
Kittredge signed a one-year, $9MM deal with the O’s last winter that also includes a $9MM club option (with a $1MM buyout) for the 2026 season. He has pitched well enough that the Cubs would likely be inclined to exercise that option, and this extra year of control made Kittredge a particularly intriguing asset in the relief market this deadline season.
A minor knee surgery during Spring Training kept Kittredge from making his Baltimore debut until May 21, when the Orioles’ awful start to the season had already made them seem like possible deadline sellers. Kittredge has a 3.56 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, and 6.5% walk rate over 30 1/3 relief innings for the O’s, with that strikeout rate a notch above his career average from his first eight big league seasons.
Kittredge is 35, and between his age and his lack of a big fastball or big strikeout numbers, this could explain why he had to settle for a relatively modest contract despite a 2.47 ERA over 182 innings during the 2020-24 seasons with the Rays and Cardinals. Still, Kittredge brings plenty of high-leverage experience to a Chicago relief corps that has been more solid than truly reliable this season. The emergence of closer Daniel Palencia has been a huge story for the Cubs, and the team has now backed up their young stoppage with a veteran set-up man.
Chicago has been looking far and wide for all sorts of starting and relief options, and in addition to Kittredge, brought Michael Soroka into the fold earlier tonight after a trade with the Nationals. As pitchers in particular have been flying off the market, the Kittredge/Soroka moves will add depth to the Cubs’ staff, while still allowing the team flexibility to land one more bigger arm before tomorrow’s deadline.
The Orioles have played a big role in the pitching market, as Kittredge joins Gregory Soto, Bryan Baker, and Seranthony Dominguez as relievers dealt in the last few weeks. Dominguez and Soto were pretty easy calls as trade candidates since they were impending free agents, but Kittredge, Baker, and infielder Ramon Urias (dealt to the Astros tonight) all had years of control remaining, indicating that Baltimore is taking a broad approach to its deadline dealings. With several other trade chips still on the roster, Baltimore will be one of the more fascinating teams to monitor as the Orioles try to reload for 2026 after a very disappointing 2025 campaign.
Elias: Orioles’ Trade Talks Focused On Players “Towards The End Of Their Contracts”
The Orioles managed to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Rays earlier today but are still 10 games under .500 with a -99 run differential. They’re 13.5 games out of first place in the American League East and 8.5 games back of an AL Wild Card spot — with seven teams they’d need to leapfrog to get there. They already traded righty Bryan Baker to the Rays earlier in the month, and general manager Mike Elias suggested in an interview on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that further players are likely to be shipped out. The GM made clear, however, that he’s focused on trading short-term pieces and not players who are under club control well beyond the current season.
“When we’re at this point in the standings and 11 days away from the trade deadline, we’ve got to be realistic about our situation,” Elias said. “The conversations I’m having right now are more oriented toward what’s out there for some of our available major league players. We’re not blowing up the team. We think we’re going to be very good again in 2026 and have that intention. We’re not interested in changing the foundation of the team, but to the degree that we have players that interest other clubs, who are coming towards the end of their contracts, we’ve got to listen to that. That’s what we’re spending our time on now.”
Whether it’s Elias who has an aversion to long-term contracts or the two ownership groups under which he’s worked — the Angelos family sold the Orioles to a group led by David Rubenstein prior to the 2024 season — the Orioles don’t have many players signed long-term. Elias has only signed one free agent (Tyler O’Neill) to a multi-year contract and has not brokered extensions with any of the team’s young core. They have a very appealing group of young players who are still controlled via arbitration, but Baltimore’s proclivity for one-year contracts gives them plenty of players to market in the next couple weeks.
First baseman/designated hitter Ryan O’Hearn, center fielder Cedric Mullins and corner outfielder Ramon Laureano are all in their final guaranteed seasons in Baltimore. (Laureano does have a reasonable $6.5MM club option for 2026). Catcher Gary Sanchez is also on a one-year deal, although he’s likely out until September due to a sprained posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
On the pitching side of things, starters Zach Eflin, Charlie Morton and Tomoyuki Sugano are all free agents at season’s end, as are relievers Gregory Soto and Seranthony Dominguez. Right-hander Andrew Kittredge, like Laureano, is on a one-year deal with a club option for the 2026 season. His is valued at $9MM.
O’Hearn, earning $8MM this season, is hitting .282/.378/.458 with a dozen homers. He’d be one of the best rental bats on the market. Mullins is earning $8.725MM and hitting just .218/.300/.4o5 with 13 homers and 14 steals, but he’s one of very few center field options who could be available. The resurgent Laureano is having a career-best year at the plate, hitting .276/.340/.498 through 247 plate appearances while earning just a $4MM salary.
Eflin has been out for nearly a month due to a back injury, which presumably contributed to him surrendering 17 runs in his final nine innings before being placed on the injured list. That ugly stretch ballooned his ERA all the way to 5.95, but he had a 4.08 mark prior to that stretch and is coming off a 2023-24 run in which he tossed 343 innings with a 3.54 ERA and terrific strikeout/walk rates. He’s making $18MM this season. Eflin has posted a 1.50 ERA in three minor league rehab starts, and he told Jake Rill of MLB.com yesterday that he feels like he’s ready to rejoin the rotation.
Morton’s struggles earlier this season were in many ways emblematic of the team’s struggles as a whole. He’s righted the ship after being dropped to the bullpen for a few weeks, though. While the 41-year-old righty is still sporting a grisly 5.58 ERA, he has a 3.47 mark in his past 47 innings. Morton was trounced for seven runs in his most recent outing versus Tampa Bay, but he’d pitched 51 2/3 innings of 2.61 ERA ball prior to that. Even with the ugly last start, he looks largely back on track, though his $15MM salary is another impediment.
Sugano, 35, is in his first big league season. A longtime star in Japan’s NPB, his year has been the inverse of Morton’s: a terrific start followed by an extended rough patch. Sugano carried a 3.04 ERA into June despite possessing one of the lowest strikeout rates in the sport (14.2%), but his lack of missed bats has caught up to him. He has a 7.94 ERA and has been torched for seven home runs over his past six starts (28 1/3 innings). He’s on a $13MM salary.
The left-handed Soto and right-handed Dominguez both miss plenty of bats and have shaky command, although Soto has his walk rate down to a more passable 10.1% this year. Both average better than 97 mph on their heaters, and their ERAs (3.67 for Soto, 3.72 for Dominguez) are nearly identical. Fielding-independent metrics grade them similarly as well, pegging them both in the mid-3.00s. Soto is making $5.35MM to Dominguez’s $8MM. The 35-year-old Kittredge missed the first two months of the season due to a knee procedure he required during spring training but has been solid since returning: 3.86 ERA, 22.9% strikeout rate, 5.7% walk rate.
It’s not clear from Elias’ comments whether the Orioles will at least entertain offers on players controlled beyond the current season. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported last week that Elias has at least heard out other teams who’ve called on lefty Trevor Rogers and closer Felix Bautista, but that could be mere due diligence. Bautista, controlled two more seasons via arbitration, would be a particular shock if moved. The Dodgers are among the teams who’ve called, but a deal feels decidedly unlikely.
The O’s have some buy-low bats, but it’s hard to imagine anyone taking on even a portion of O’Neill’s contract when he’s signed through 2027 and hitting just .182/.270/.327. Ryan Mountcastle is an interesting buy-low option, but he hit just .246/.280/.348 before a hamstring tear sent him to the 60-day IL. He’ll begin a rehab assignment soon and could be a non-tender candidate with a poor finish, so perhaps there’s more willingness to listen there. Baltimore’s core seems unlikely to be available in any capacity, however. It’d be a true stunner if any of Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Adley Rutschman, Colton Cowser or Jackson Holliday wound up being seriously discussed.
Which Other Relievers Might The Orioles Shop?
The Orioles and Rays lined up a mid-July trade on Thursday morning. Baltimore sent setup man Bryan Baker to Tampa Bay for the 37th pick in the draft. That was spurred by the calendar — with the draft on Sunday, the O’s didn’t have time to waste to finalize the deal — but could be the first in a few bullpen trades for Baltimore.
SNY’s Andy Martino writes that rival teams do not expect the Orioles to trade star closer Félix Bautista. The big righty is cheaply controllable via arbitration for the next two seasons. Baker was also controllable, but dealing Bautista would be a much more significant hit to the 2026 bullpen. Bautista’s command was wobbly early in the season as he returned from Tommy John surgery. He has been utterly dominant over the past six weeks, allowing only one run with 24 strikeouts and six walks in 15 innings dating back to the beginning of June.
Even if the Orioles hold Bautista, they have a few relievers who should be available. Martino suggested the O’s will soon seriously consider offers on righties Andrew Kittredge and Seranthony Domínguez and on southpaw Gregory Soto. All three are short-term bullpen pieces. The Orioles remain eight games under .500 despite sweeping a doubleheader against the Mets on Thursday. Fielding offers on rental and/or veteran relievers makes sense.
Seranthony Domínguez ($8MM salary, impending free agent)
Baltimore acquired Domínguez from the Phillies at last summer’s deadline. While the 6’1″ righty had been Philadelphia’s closer earlier in his career, he’d fallen out of favor because of scattershot control. Domínguez struggled to keep the ball in the park after the trade, yet the Orioles exercised an $8MM option to keep him.
That has proven to be a smart decision. The 30-year-old has worked to a 3.13 earned run average through 37 1/3 innings. He has punched out a third of opposing hitters. His 15% swinging strike rate is a top 30 mark in MLB (minimum 30 innings). The command is still a concern — he has walked more than 14% of batters faced — but he has huge stuff. Domínguez averages nearly 98 MPH on his heater and misses bats with both his breaking ball and a splitter. He has been locked in over the past few weeks. Since June 1, he has fired 16 innings with three runs (one earned) while striking out 25 against eight walks.
Gregory Soto ($5.35MM salary, impending free agent)
Like Domínguez, Soto landed with the Orioles in a trade from Philadelphia at last summer’s deadline. The 30-year-old southpaw is a two-time All-Star from his early days as Detroit’s closer. He didn’t meet expectations after the Phils acquired him going into 2023. Soto has tantalized with big stuff, but the results haven’t really matched in recent seasons.
Soto is amidst his best year since Detroit traded him. He has provided the O’s with 33 1/3 innings of 3.78 ERA ball. Soto has struck out 28% of opponents against a slightly elevated 10.4% walk percentage. He has only allowed five runs since the beginning of June, three of which came in one rough appearance against Texas on July 1. A lefty with a 97 MPH fastball who is having a solid season is going to intrigue plenty of contenders.
Andrew Kittredge ($9MM salary, $9MM club option with $1MM buyout for 2026)
Baltimore added the 35-year-old Kittredge on a $10MM free agent deal. His organizational tenure got off to a rough start. Kittredge injured his left knee and required Spring Training debridement surgery. That kept him from making his team debut until May 21. Kittredge has pitched well, posting a 3.57 ERA with a slightly above-average 23.7% strikeout rate. He has only walked 6.5% of opponents.
Kittredge doesn’t light up radar guns the way that Domínguez and Soto can. His fastball sits in the 94-95 MPH range; he leans as frequently on a high-80s slider. Kittredge has nevertheless been a quality leverage piece when healthy. He was an All-Star with the Rays in 2021. After undergoing Tommy John surgery the next year, he returned to toss 70 2/3 innings of 2.80 ERA ball for the Cardinals last season. Kittredge led the National League with 37 holds a year ago. There shouldn’t be any doubt regarding his ability to handle important innings. The club option means the O’s could retain him into next season, but they may prefer to shop him rather than banking on his age-36 campaign.
Orioles Activate Andrew Kittredge
The Orioles announced today that right-hander Andrew Kittredge has been reinstated from the 15-day injured list. Right-hander Chayce McDermott was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk as the corresponding move.
Kittredge, 35, will be making his Oriole debut as soon as he gets into a game. He signed a free agent deal with them in the offseason but dealt with some left knee soreness during spring training. He required a debridement procedure on that knee and landed on the IL to start the season. He started a rehab assignment earlier this month and is now healthy enough to finally pitch in Baltimore orange for the first time.
A lot has changed during the relatively short timespan of his knee injury. The O’s came into 2025 as clear contenders, having made the postseason in each of the two previous seasons. They gave Kittredge a one-year, $10MM deal with the plan of adding him to a competitive bullpen that already featured strong arms like Félix Bautista, Yennier Cano and others.
But the O’s have been the most disappointing team in baseball this year. They are currently on an eight-game losing streak, dropping their record to 15-32. They are next to the basement of the American League standings, only one game up on the White Sox. They are at least six games back of every other A.L. team. FanGraphs only gives them a 1.8% chance of cracking the postseason at this point. They recently fired manager Brandon Hyde, replacing him with third base coach Tony Mansolino.
That means Kittredge is more likely to finish the season pitching for a different club than pitching meaningful games for the Orioles in September. As a veteran on a one-year deal, he’ll be a natural trade candidate this summer. He’s not a pure rental, as his deal contains a $9MM club option for 2026 with a $1MM buyout, but it would still be logical for the O’s to flip him for young talent if they can.
Kittredge had a strong season with the Cardinals in 2024. He logged 70 2/3 innings with a 2.80 earned run average. His 23.3% strikeout rate, 7% walk rate and 45.2% ground ball rate were all a bit better than league average. That’s why the O’s shelled out a decent amount of money to bring him aboard for this year. If he is able to put his knee injury behind him and put up numbers like that again, he’ll certainly be in demand this summer. For now, he’ll jump into Mansolino’s bullpen as the O’s try to bank a few more wins in the coming months.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images