Reports: Diamondbacks adding pitcher Zack Littell

PHOENIX — The Arizona Diamondbacks have agreed to sign veteran pitcher Zack Littell, who was designated for assignment by the Washington Nationals this past week, azcentral.com’s Nick Piecoro and FanSided’s Robert Murray reported on Sunday.

The move has not been made official by the club.

The Diamondbacks have seen a lot of Littell over the years, as he has made 12 appearances against them since making his MLB debut in 2018. The right-hander tossed 10 innings with two earned runs across two games against the D-backs this season.

Littell made 23 appearances with 14 starts for the Nationals this year, throwing the fourth-most innings on the team. He worked a 4.97 ERA, 5.75 FIP, 1.34 WHIP and one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball at 14.6%. Only three of 94 pitchers to have thrown 100 innings this year have a lower K rate.

Righties have a .690 OPS against him, while lefties are up to .877.

The 30-year-old put up solid numbers in each of the previous two seasons, pitching to a 3.73 ERA in 61 games across 2024-25 for the Tampa Bay Rays and Cincinnati Reds. He pitched a career-high 186.2 frames last season.

Littell is a pitch-to-contact arm with low strikeout and walks rates throughout his career, and he was on a Nationals team with the most errors committed in MLB. The Diamondbacks entered Sunday with the fewest, which should help.

Arizona attempted to add pitching at the trade deadline and came up empty.

Since then, the organization signed veteran reliever Dennis Santana to a minor league deal and now added Littell, someone with experience starting games or providing bulk innings in relief.

The D-backs are expecting to get starter Michael Soroka back from the injured list on Monday against the Colorado Rockies, while Corbin Burnes, Zac Gallen and Ryne Nelson are progressing while on the injured list.

Littell is another body to help the D-backs bridge that gap.

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