Zack Littell

Littell was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 11th round of the 2013 Major League Baseball draft.[2] He signed with Seattle, forgoing his commitment to play college baseball at Appalachian State University.[3] Littell made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Arizona League Mariners. He was 0–6 with a 5.94 ERA and a 1.560 WHIP in 33.1 innings in 2013.[4]

He pitched in 2014 for the Advanced Rookie League Pulaski Mariners, going 5–5 with a 4.52 ERA in 13 starts.[4] Littell pitched in 2015 for the Single-A Clinton LumberKings, compiling a 3–6 record and 3.91 ERA in 21 starts.[4]

He started 2016 with Clinton, and was promoted to the Bakersfield Blaze in July.[5][6] In 28 total games (27 starts) between the two clubs, Littell collected a 13–6 record, 2.66 ERA, and 1.16 WHIP.[4]

On November 18, 2016, the Mariners traded Littell to the New York Yankees in exchange for pitcher James Pazos.[7] Littell started 2017 with the Tampa Yankees and was promoted to the Trenton Thunder in late June.

On July 30, 2017, the Yankees traded Littell and pitcher Dietrich Enns to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for pitcher Jaime García and cash considerations.[8] The Twins then assigned him to the Chattanooga Lookouts where he finished the season. In 27 total games (25 starts) between Tampa, Trenton, and Chattanooga, he went 19–1 with a 2.12 ERA and 1.12 WHIP.[9] The Twins added him to their 40-man roster after the season.[10]

Littell made his MLB debut on June 5, 2018.[11] In eight games in the majors in 2018, Littell went 0–2 with a 6.20 ERA, 14 K, and 11 BB in 20.1 innings. In the minors, he was 6–9 with a 3.98 ERA.[4]

Littell moved to bullpen full time in 2019. He went 6–0 in 29 games with a 2.68 ERA, 32 K, and 9 BB in 37 innings, while in the minors in 63 innings, he was 3–3 with a 3.71 ERA. He had a hard-hit rate of 52.5%.[12] In 2020 in 6.1 innings he gave up five home runs and had a 9.95 ERA.[13]

On September 17, 2020, Littell was outrighted off the 40-man roster.[14] He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

On February 3, 2021, Littell signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants, and received an invitation to spring training.[15][16]

In the 2021 regular season, Littell was 4–0 with a 2.92 ERA in 63 games (2 starts) covering 62.2 innings in which he struck out 63 batters with the Giants; with Triple-A Sacramento, he had a 9.00 ERA.[17] His hard-hit percentage of 46.0% was in the bottom (worst) 5% of major league pitchers.[18]

He was demoted to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats on September 13, 2022, one day following an incident on the pitcher's mound with Giants manager Gabe Kapler which began with Littell slamming the ball into Kapler's hand as he was removed from a game, and angrily telling Kapler he wanted to remain in the game.[19][20][21][22]

In 2022 he was 3–3 with a 5.08 ERA with the Giants.[23] He was 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA with Triple-A Sacramento. The Giants waived him off the 40-man roster on November 9, 2022; when no team chose to pick him up, the Giants outrighted him to Sacramento.[24] He elected free agency on November 10.[25]

On January 12, 2023, Littell signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers organization.[26] He began the year with the Triple-A Round Rock Express, for whom he made eight appearances and recorded a 2.25 ERA with 16 strikeouts in 12.0 innings pitched.

On May 5, 2023, Littell was traded to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for cash considerations.[27] He was subsequently selected to Boston's active roster the next day.[28] In two relief appearances for Boston, he surrendered three runs in three innings pitched. Littell was designated for assignment on May 10 following James Paxton's activation off of the injured list.[29]

On May 12, 2023, Littell was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Rays.[30]