After placing Garrett Cleavinger on the 60-Day Injured List, the Tampa Bay Rays claimed right-hander Zack Littell off of waivers from the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations. Littell will officially report today; the team designated RHP Javy Guerra for assignment to make room on the active roster.
Littell, 27, was acquired by Boston from the Rangers last week in exchange for cash considerations. The right-hander struggled in three innings of work with the Red Sox, allowing 3 runs on four walks (one intentional) and three hits while striking out just two.
The best season of Littell’s career up to now came in 2021, as a member of the Giants. In 61.2 innings of work, Littell posted a fantastic 2.92 ERA (142 ERA+) and a 3.87 FIP, with a 1.14 WHIP, and a 2.63 K/BB. That season, Littell struck out a career-high 25% of batters faced while walking 9.5%. He also posted a career-high 46.9% groundball rate during the aforementioned campaign. Unfortunately, Littell’s previous struggles returned a season later when he posted a 5.08 ERA and a 4.65 FIP across 44.1 innings with San Francisco.
Littell relies primarily on a 94 mph fourseam fastball, an 87 mph 12-6 slider that he uses as his main putaway pitch, and an 84 mph splitter that has some natural sink to it.
At his best, Littell was successful for a couple of reasons. First, he was effectively a two-pitch pitcher in 2020 when he used his slider more often — his slider usage is currently 25.8%, down from 43.6% in 2020. That’s not to say his splitter is ineffective. Secondly, in 2020 he set up his splitter with his fourseamer, which with he pitched to the corners. In the present tense, he has left that fourseamer in very hittable locations.
If there is a team that could fix Littell, it’s the Rays. At the end of the day, this is a low-risk move by Tampa Bay’s front office. If nothing positive comes out of the acquisition, no harm no foul.