Andrew Kittredge Goes from Inadequate to Immaculate

Andrew Kittredge entered the 7th inning of Tuesday’s loss to the Reds with one out and his team leading 1-0 after a masterful performance by Shōta Imanaga. One out and 22 pitches later, Kittredge walked off the mound with the Cubs in a 5-1 hole. Roughly 18 hours later, the righty was back on the bump in the 7th inning to protect a tenuous 2-0 lead. Nine pitches later, he walked off with the 120th immaculate inning in MLB history.

It was only the sixth time a Cubs pitcher had struck out three batters on nine pitches, though the history of pitch tracking doesn’t stretch back as far as other stats. Regardless, it’s pretty damn impressive. That goes double when talking about a new acquisition who’d just seen his ERA jump by more than a point (3.24 to 4.28) the previous evening.

“That was great,” Kittredge told reporters after the game. “You always want to just get back out there as quick as you can. I really appreciate that from [Craig Counsell], just having faith in me to put me back in that situation. Just good to get back out there, just so you don’t have to stew on it too long.”

I’m reminded of the climactic scene in Dumb and Dumber where Harry and Lloyd realize Harry’s bulletproof vest would not have protected him from being shot in the face. Just like special agent Beth Jordan, sending Kittredge right back out there with very little protection was a risk Counsell was willing to take. It paid off, even if more than a few onlookers had reservations at first.

See, the thing is, Kittredge doesn’t present as a lights-out reliever. Dude looks like Richard Masur’s portrayal of the older Stan Uris in the 1990 It miniseries that made an entire generation afraid of clowns and Chinese restaurants. Just look at him rocking that floppy snapback emblazoned with “THE DUDE ABIDES” and holding up a ball he ostensibly retrieved from his kid’s first Little League dinger.

Not only that, but his delivery screams, “Position player pitching” all the way up until he fires. That’s when Kittredge explodes into either a 90 mph slider or a 95 mph sinker

A piece of history. pic.twitter.com/RwDxpas9Wc

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) August 6, 2025

The breaking ball makes up over 50% of his offerings, and he threw it 14 times to Reds hitters on Tuesday. The slider was the final pitch to five of the six batters he faced, with the results as follows: walk, single, home run, double, sac fly. Yikes. Whether it was different matchups or a change in tack, Kittredge led with the sinker on Wednesday to set up the slider as his out-pitch.

Sure enough, he got called strikes on his first offerings to each Reds batter as they appeared to be sitting on spin once again. Kittredge went sinker yet again with his second pitch to each, getting a foul, a called strike, and a whiff. The slider then got swinging strikes on all three batters because Kittredge was able to finish it outside the zone, something he had trouble with in his previous appearance.

“The last pitch,” said catcher Carson Kelly, who didn’t realize at the time what he’d just experienced. “I was like, ‘Wow. We went sinker, sinker, slider; sinker, sinker, slider; sinker, sinker … slider?’ It was pretty cool to be a part of that.”

At the risk of making a single inning into something bigger than it needs to be, Kittredge bouncing back like that could be big for the Cubs down the stretch. Getting a win to stave off the sweep was big in and of itself, as was seeing the offense produce at a high level. Add in an immaculate inning from a dude who looks like he just walked off a local muni course after tipping back a cranberry-lime hard seltzer or three, and you’ve got a recipe for a dominant stretch run.

Maybe this ends up as nothing more than a fun footnote regardless of what happens over the rest of the season, but it’s pretty cool either way.