The Chicago Cubs figured to be busy before the trade deadline, and after other teams started making moves on Wednesday, they started to get involved themselves.
First, they traded for Michael Soroka of the Washington Nationals, adding a starting pitcher to their rotation who also has experience coming out of the bullpen.
Instead of solely relying on the right-hander to transition come October, the Cubs went out and landed an established reliever, trading for Andrew Kittredge of the Baltimore Orioles, as was first reported by Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
At the time of writing, it’s not clear who Chicago gave up to get this done.
Kittredge is someone the Cubs are familiar with from his time with the St. Louis Cardinals last season. With their division rivals, the right-hander posted a 2.80 ERA across 74 appearances.
He became a free agent after the 2023 campaign and signed a one-year, $10 million deal with the Orioles. His tenure in Baltimore got off to a rocky start when he underwent knee surgery before the season began, but since he’s returned to the mound in late-May, he’s been great.
Kittredge owns a 3.56 ERA across 30 outings, good for an ERA+ that’s 12 points above the league average of 100. He’s also struck out 31 batters in 30 1/3 innings pitched, with just five walks allowed.
Adding him to the mix bolsters Chicago’s bullpen, giving them another high-leverage arm they can deploy at any stage of the game to get outs.
Because the return isn’t known just yet, it’s hard to gauge if the Cubs overpaid to add Kittredge or not. But this addition is still a solid one and should help them down the stretch of the regular season and during the playoffs.
