2026 Stats
W-L
1-4
ERA
7.24
WHIP
1.61
K
17
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2026 Fantasy Outlook
Traded from Tampa Bay to Cincinnati at the deadline, Littell pitched reasonably well for the Reds, at least until he ran into the eventual World Series champs in the wild-card round. Overall, Littell went 10-8 with a 3.81 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 130:32 K:BB across a career-high 186.2 innings during the 2025 regular season. His 4.2 BB% was the lowest mark among qualified starters. Meanwhile, his 17.1 K% was sixth lowest among that group. Home runs have long been an issue for Littell, and he served up 10 long balls in just 28.1 innings at Great American Ball Park. After working mostly as a reliever between Minnesota and San Francisco early in his career, Littell emerged as a viable if unconventional major-league starter with the Rays. All the contact and home runs make him tough to trust moving forward, especially since he no longer has the Tampa Bay development and coaching staffs to guide him in the right direction. Littell signed with the Nationals in March, which should provide him a clear path to a season-long rotation spot. Beyond the contact and long ball concerns, his fantasy upside will be further limited by what's likely to be a low wins total. Read Past Outlooks
Signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the Nationals in March of 2026. Contract includes $12 mutual option ($4 million buyout) for 2027 and is worth up to $9.5 million in innings pitched incentives.
Gets into win column
Littell (1-4) earned the win Sunday against the Brewers, allowing one run on one hit and one walk in 3.2 innings. He struck out one.
Analysis
Working behind opener PJ Poulin on Sunday, Littell quietly gave the Nationals one of his better performances of 2026 in long relief. It was just the right-hander's second appearance of the year with fewer than three runs allowed, and he kept the ball in the yard for just the second time in seven outings this season. Littell still has a rough 7.24 ERA, 1.61 WHIP and 17:12 K:BB over 32.1 innings, so fantasy managers can likely find more appealing streaming options.
Working behind opener PJ Poulin on Sunday, Littell quietly gave the Nationals one of his better performances of 2026 in long relief. It was just the right-hander's second appearance of the year with fewer than three runs allowed, and he kept the ball in the yard for just the second time in seven outings this season. Littell still has a rough 7.24 ERA, 1.61 WHIP and 17:12 K:BB over 32.1 innings, so fantasy managers can likely find more appealing streaming options.
Pitching Stats
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2026 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
73
Last 10 Games
73
Last 5 Games
61
How many pitches does Zack Littell generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Zack Littell generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-2%
BAA vs LHP
2026
-14%
BAA vs RHP
| BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024vs Left | .256 | 142 | 44 | 191 | 38 | |||
| Since 2024vs Right | .260 | 146 | 31 | 187 | 33 | |||
| 2026vs Left | .319 | 6 | 7 | 23 | 10 | |||
| 2026vs Right | .274 | 11 | 5 | 17 | 3 | |||
| 2025vs Left | .238 | 63 | 17 | 79 | 16 | |||
| 2025vs Right | .250 | 67 | 15 | 95 | 20 | |||
| 2024vs Left | .261 | 73 | 20 | 89 | 12 | |||
| 2024vs Right | .271 | 68 | 11 | 75 | 10 | |||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | |||||||
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2024
-15%
ERA at Home
2026
-15%
ERA on Road
| ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Since 2024Home | 3.71 | 1.13 | 184.1 | 7.6 | 1.6 | ||||
| Since 2024Away | 4.34 | 1.28 | 191.0 | 6.3 | 2.0 | ||||
| 2026Home | 7.71 | 1.61 | 18.2 | 5.8 | 3.4 | ||||
| 2026Away | 6.59 | 1.61 | 13.2 | 3.3 | 3.3 | ||||
| 2025Home | 3.66 | 1.08 | 78.2 | 7.2 | 0.9 | ||||
| 2025Away | 3.92 | 1.12 | 108.0 | 5.6 | 2.0 | ||||
| 2024Home | 2.90 | 1.08 | 87.0 | 8.3 | 1.9 | ||||
| 2024Away | 4.54 | 1.46 | 69.1 | 7.9 | 1.7 | ||||
| More Splits→ | View More Split Stats | ||||||||
Stat Review
How does Zack Littell compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
1.42K/9
4.7BB/9
3.3HR/9
3.6Fastball
91.1 mphERA
7.24WHIP
1.61BABIP
.267GB/FB
0.84Left On Base
59.2%Exit Velocity
85.4 mphBarrels/BBE
8.2%Spin Rate
1860 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
30.4%Swinging Strike
5.8%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2025
2024
2022
2020
2019
Littell was a rarity on the Rays roster in 2024; a pitcher who did not spend most of the season injured. Littell logged 29 starts and 156.1 innings of effective if not boring production. Littell's blueprint for success is getting ahead early in the count and forcing batters to expand their zones to protect with his splitters and sliders. How often do you see a starting pitcher whose fastball is his tertiary pitch? Fifty-eight percent of what Littell threw to batters last season was a slider or a splitter but the kitchen sink approach is what it is because he lacks a dominant pitch. The splitter is the only pitch with a whiff rate over 30 percent while none of his pitches had a batting average against below .240. Littell will not hurt you with walks, but home runs are always at risk with his lack of stuff. This is a back of the rotation starter, both for real baseball as well as fantasy baseball.
More Fantasy News
Pitching in bulk relief Sunday
Littell is expected to pitch in bulk relief behind opener PJ Poulin in Sunday's game against the Brewers, Mark Zuckerman of NatsJournal.com reports.
Analysis
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Hammered for eight runs in loss
Littell (0-4) took the loss Tuesday against the Mets, surrendering eight runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks with one strikeout across 3.2 innings.
Analysis
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Crushed by long ball again
Littell (0-3) took the loss Wednesday against Atlanta, allowing eight runs (six earned) on seven hits (four home runs) and two walks in six innings. He struck out one.
Analysis
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Lit up by San Francisco
Littell (0-2) took the loss against the Giants on Friday, allowing eight runs on 11 hits and one walk while striking out four across four innings.
Analysis
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Allows three homers in no-decision
Littell didn't factor into the decision Sunday against the Brewers, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks while striking out three in five innings of work.
Analysis
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Atlanta not interested?
Mark Bowman of MLB.com doesn't believe Atlanta has much interest in signing Littell.
Analysis
Atlanta has seen Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep succumb to elbow issues early in spring training, but the club has yet to bolster its rotation in the wake of those injuries. Littell is arguably the top starting pitcher left on the open market after posting a 3.81 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 130:32 K:BB across 32 regular-season starts between the Reds and Rays last season. He'll likely need to sign soon to have a chance of being fully ramped up for the start of the regular season in late March.
Atlanta has seen Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep succumb to elbow issues early in spring training, but the club has yet to bolster its rotation in the wake of those injuries. Littell is arguably the top starting pitcher left on the open market after posting a 3.81 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 130:32 K:BB across 32 regular-season starts between the Reds and Rays last season. He'll likely need to sign soon to have a chance of being fully ramped up for the start of the regular season in late March.