Zack

Littell

This was a good Littell game. He located his fastball well at the top of the zone all afternoon and let his splitter dive low and below it. Plus, all five of his pitches forced at least one swing-and-miss. Also, credit to the Nationals for yanking Littell when they did and not letting him face Corbin Carroll for a third time after they rallied in the prior inning. He’s scheduled to face the Mariners at home next time out.

Littell struck out five and walked two, improving to 5-4 and lowering his ERA to 5.01 this season. The veteran righty has been a serviceable innings eater for Washington’s rebuilding rotation, but outings like Sunday have been too few and far between for him to be a fantasy factor this summer. Littell’s next start comes on the road against the Diamondbacks.

Littell took the ball after lefty opener PJ Poulin worked two frames and needed just 106 pitches (70 strikes) to finish the remaining seven frames. He struck out seven and only issued two walks. It certainly helped that Washington’s lineup supplied him with double-digit run support as well. The 30-year-old righty has worked behind an opener three times in his last five starts since May 3. He’ll factor into Washington’s pitching equation, most likely with a bulk relief outing, against the Padres on Sunday.

This was a quintessential Zack Littell game. He was around the strike zone and the Mets hitters were aggressive, yet unable to do much damage. Of the 20 total batters he faced, 10 swung at the first pitch they saw and only three took a first pitch strike. Nevertheless, Littell pitched well enough to put himself in position for a win and now has a 23:15 strikeouts to walk ratio with a 5.83 ERA through 46 1/3 innings so far this season. He’s scheduled for a two-start week coming up against the Guardians and Padres.

Sure, we all saw these results coming. Littell turned ten hard-hit balls and seven whiffs in 40 swings into just two hits allowed and two walks, lowering his season ERA to 6.10. He allowed a double to Gunnar Henderson that would have been a homer in 19-of-30 parks, a 360-foot out to Tyler O’Neill that would have gone out of 12 parks, and assorted other loud contact along the way. Great news for him, but don’t be fooled — he’s not worth starting even in what looks to be a good matchup against the Mets next week.

Richard Lovelady had opened the game with two scoreless frames, striking out three. Littell took over in the third and surrendered a two-run homer to Kyle Stowers in the fourth inning. Miami would bring one more unearned run in to score in the sixth before Littell’s day was done. The 30-year-old right-hander holds an uninspiring 6.94 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, and a 17/13 K/BB ratio across 36 1/3 innings. His next outing is scheduled to come on Friday at home against the Orioles.

Richard Lovelady will serve as Washington’s opener to face the top of Miami’s lineup before handing things over to Littell for a bulk relief outing. The 30-year-old righty has worked behind an opener in back-to-back starts. It worked last time as he allowed one run over 3 2/3 innings to pick up a win against the Brewers this past weekend.

PJ Poulin served as the opener for the Nationals on Sunday against Milwaukee, tossing two scoreless innings before handing it over to Littell. Littell followed with 3 2/3 innings of work, giving up one run on one walk and a hit. He struck out one. The 30-year-old right-hander ends the day with a 7.24 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, and a 17/12 K/BB ratio across 32 1/3 innings. He lines up for his next outing against the Marlins in Miami on Saturday.

Littell gave up five hits, walked three and struck out one. He fell to 0-4 with the loss. The 30-year-old right-hander allowed two more home runs, one to Bo Bichette and one to Juan Soto. He’s now leading the league in home runs allowed with 14. Littell’s grip on a rotation spot would seem to be tenuous at best given his 7.85 ERA, but he’s lined up to face the Brewers at home on Sunday.

Littell gave up four homers, bringing his season total to 11 in just 25 innings. Last year, he surrendered 36, the second highest total in the majors behind his current teammate Jake Irvin’s 38. The loss leaves him 0-3 with a 7.56 ERA, but he figures to stay in the rotation and face the Mets next week.