Former St. Louis Cardinals Reliever a Solid Target for A's

Jason Burke | Jan 1, 2025

Mar 31, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Andrew Kittredge (27) throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the sixth inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

While the Athletics have spent money this offseason, there is still work to be done to turn this roster into a contender for a postseason berth. The A's have upgraded their starting rotation and signed Gio Urshela as an option at third base, addressing two of their biggest needs, but the A's could also use another veteran arm in the bullpen as well.

Former St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Andrew Kittredge could be the right fit. The 34-year-old has spent parts of eight years in the big leagues, and he has been a part of five different Tampa Bay Rays clubs that reached the postseason, which is an added bonus.

Anchored by All Star Mason Miller, arguably the best closer in baseball, the A's bullpen ranked No. 13 in reliever's ERA with a 3.83. Not a bad showing by any means, especially for a 69-win club on the rise. That said, the two guys that are penciled in for the seventh and eighth inning right now, Tyler Ferguson and Michel Otañez, each made their MLB debuts in 2024. Adding a veteran to the back-end of the bullpen would protect against any potential regression.

With the A's headed to West Sacramento for the first of three if not four seasons, that added reliever with experience could prove to be a big difference-maker. This past season with St. Louis, Kittredge posted a 2.80 ERA (3.96 FIP) across 70 2/3 innings while striking out 23.3% of hitters he faced and walking seven percent.

Kittredge ranked in the 100th percentile in chase rate at 38.9%, which was aided by his 88 mile per hour slider that accounted for nearly half of his pitches, generating a 41.3% whiff rate. The heat map on that slider shows it landing outside of the zone quite a bit as a true chase pitch. Opposing batters hit just .177 with an expected .213 batting average on the slider.

The movement on that slider also ranks among the best in horizontal break, placing him No. 9 among pitchers to throw at least 500 of them. No.1 on the list in 2024 was Mitch Spence, and No. 4 was Austin Adams, two pitchers the A's brought in last offseason. This seems to be a tool that the A's have been targeting, and they saw decent results from each of those two righties last year. Kittredge also ranked No. 17 in vertical movement.

Kittredge slotted in the 69th percentile in whiff rate (27.8) and the 66th percentile in ground ball rate (45.5). The A's have been collecting guys with higher ground ball rates this winter as they transition into the unknown, at least in terms of how a minor-league park will play with big-league hitters. Typically they have targetting players with rates above 50%, though not every addition has followed this trend.

While his grounder rate isn't quite 50%, it's close enough. His chase and whiff rates should also help keep the ball in the park a bit as well. If the A's were to sign the former Cardinal, he could serve as Miller's setup man, which would give manager Mark Kotsay more options in tight games. Plus, if Ferguson and Otañez prove to be similar to what they were in 2024, then adding Kittredge would only strengthen their bullpen, making it even deeper.

Getting a veteran arm at the back of the 'pen could go a long way to helping the A's achieve their goal of being a .500 team in 2025.