Baltimore Orioles All-Star Reliever Looks Like He Hasn’t Missed a Beat Despite Injury

The Baltimore Orioles received some brutal injury news this week when it was revealed that two of their key pitchers, starter Grayson Rodriguez and reliever Andrew Kittredge, are both dealing with issues.

Rodriguez looks to have avoided serious ligament damage but is going to miss some time. Kittredge had to undergo left knee debridement. The procedure was a success but he is going to miss a few months.

That is certainly not how a team with championship aspirations wants to start the year with their ace and set up man, both of whom are going on the injured list.

But, if there is one thing that the Orioles did well this offseason, it was create a ton of depth on their pitching staff.

It will be put to the test early on and the team is certainly fortunate that All-Star closer Felix Bautista is going to be back in the mix to help.

After finishing 11th in the Cy Young Award voting for the 2023 season and winning the Mariano Rivera Reliever Award, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery in the offseason.

It was a huge blow for the team to overcome as he cemented himself as one of the best closers in baseball with a dominant campaign.

Bautista threw 61 innings in 2023, recording 33 saves with a 1.48 ERA and 110 strikeouts. That is virtually impossible for anyone to replace as he had a 3.0 WAR.

The backend of the bullpen was a mess in 2024 without him as the Craig Kimbrel experiment did not go well; he was eventually released in September after performing well below replacement level with a -1.1 WAR and 5.33 ERA in 52.1 innings.

What was a major weakness for the team last year should become a strength again with Bautista back in the mix.

He probably won’t be pitching back-to-back days early on as he continues ramping things back up, but Brandon Hyde having him at his disposal is big.

This spring, the focus for Bautista has been getting his work in; the statistics and production don’t mean anything in exhibition games.

What is important, however, is that his pitch mix still looks to be elite despite his velocity not being ramped all the way up yet.

Despite his velocity being down, Bautista’s stuff wasn’t lacking in any way.

As shared by Pitch Profiler on X, his latest outing against the Detroit Tigers still featured some elite pitch performance.

Félix Bautista returned to the mound today for the first time since surgery!

The velocity was down, but that didn't mean the stuff was. He still showed an elite mix, and as he gets comfortable again, expect it to only improve as the velocity returns. pic.twitter.com/uZFs7Hs9EH
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 8, 2025

He had a proStuff+ of 135, with his sinker and splitter registering eye-popping numbers of 136 and 145.

His slider, which had a score of “only” 105, still above the average of 100, registered a 100% whiff rate. As did the splitter.

Bautista gave up one earned run on two hits and one walk in the outing, but it was great just to see him back on the mound. Outside of the velocity, he doesn’t look like he has missed a beat, which is bad news for the batters who will be opposing him once the season rolls around.

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