Andrew Kittredge

Fan & Media Sentiment

Andrew Kittredge's public perception is sitting in a rough spot right now, and the D- sentiment grade tells you everything you need to know about how fans and media have received his 2026 campaign so far. The narrative driving that pessimism is almost entirely health-based — a shoulder injury that cost him Opening Day set the tone early, and the injury-concern framing has proven stubborn to shake, with coverage focusing more on his durability and return timeline than anything he's done on the mound. That disconnect becomes genuinely striking when you factor in his performance grade, which sits at an A — meaning the on-field product, when he has taken the ball, has been elite, and the talent concerns here are essentially nonexistent. The sentiment trend is at least moving in the right direction, climbing from an F to a D- over the last 30 days, and his IL reinstatement alongside Tyler O'Neill signals that Baltimore is getting healthier at a point in the season where the Orioles — sitting at 16-20 in the AL East — need contributions from every credible bullpen arm they have. Baltimore's front office has also been aggressive in adding pitching depth this week, cycling in multiple relievers via signings and roster moves, which cuts both ways for Kittredge: it reflects organizational urgency, but it also means the bar for reclaiming a trusted late-game role is higher than it might have been at the start of the year. The bottom line is that Kittredge is in a performance-validates-everything moment — the tools and the grade are there, but the narrative won't fully rehabilitate until he strings together a stretch of clean, high-leverage outings that bury the shoulder story for good.